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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28688793">When I Look Up At the Night Sky</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tokagethehokage/pseuds/Tokagethehokage'>Tokagethehokage</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Canon Universe, Changing Tenses, Character Death, Character Development, Depression, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enjoying it, Eventual Romance, Exploring their pasts, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Heavy Angst, Humor, I'm Sorry, Lowkey being an idiot, Mental Health Issues, Mystery, Original Character(s), POV Multiple, POV Third Person Limited, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Reading smut in a tree, Rokudaime Hatake Kakashi, Self-Discovery, Slow Burn, Stubborn Original Character, Tragedy, Trauma, by accident</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:22:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>43,717</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28688793</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tokagethehokage/pseuds/Tokagethehokage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Like many of our favorite Naruto Characters, OC Miyuki Tsukishiro also happens to have a rather baffling and traumatizing past. Luckily, armed with her stubbornness and impulsivity, she dives right into solving the greatest mysteries thrown at her following escape from captivity after the Fourth Great Ninja War.</p>
<p>However, along the way and to her dismay, she catches the eye of the revered Lord Sixth Hokage, who makes one of the biggest mistakes of his life by simply taking notice of her through many awkward and bizarre encounters. </p>
<p>On top of his sea of paperwork, the man renowned for his hatred of responsibility is forced to take upon one of the most terror-inducing missions alive: babysitting a 28 year old. She, on the other hand, has quite a bit on her plate as well, such as...trying not to die? </p>
<p>As the paths of these two awkward beans cross ten-fold, the peace of Konoha- No, the peace of the entire Shinobi world is thrown into jeopardy, allowing for the two to come together to realize they can totally kick butt as a team. In addition to running into practically every other Canon character to exist, Miyuki embarks on a journey to truly find herself and a place that she can call home. This is her story.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A lone man sleepily sits on an old swivel chair, staring at the 12 monitor screens laid out in front of him. As these screens are the only sources of light illuminating this tiny room, the man couldn’t help but feel his eyelids slowly drift shut. But he couldn’t fall asleep on the job. If anything were to happen without him noticing, he’d be killed on the spot. He of all people would know. After all, he’s seen it happen first hand so many times. He remembered the crazed smile of the man he nicknamed, ‘The Executioner,’ as he would plunder into the room, ignoring the desperate cries for mercy and forgiveness. The Executioner would stare down at him, eyes wide with a haunting, teeth-showing smile plastered on his face, extend his hand down to envelope the cowering body, and ultimately crush the poor soul.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man sitting in the chair shuddered at the memory. His gaze trailed from the monitors down to the tile floor. It was obvious that cleaning hadn’t been taken seriously as bits and pieces of trash and dust were littered about, but above all, dark red bloodstains lay, staring back at the man. He could almost hear the screams of the countless previous security officers that had messed up on the job. The man sighed to himself as he quickly shifted his gaze again back to the black and white screens. Sitting upright in the chair now, as opposed to his previous slouched position in the chair, he began peering into each camera. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As anyone could probably guess, a place where security detail can be easily removed and replaced isn’t a good place to work. Definitely illegal too. But sometimes, the only places you’re left with to find good work just have a lot of risks attached to it. Though, if the man were to stop for a moment and consider someone else’s well-being other than his own, he would feel sorry for the locked up ‘prisoners’ he had been watching day in and day out. He stared at the figures on the screen. Some were crying in their tiny cells, while others were angrily voicing their frustrations by banging on the bars holding them in. A few haven’t moved for days, perhaps due to starvation, dehydration, depression, or all of the above. The more he thought about the prisoners, the more he realized how much of a rabbit hole this situation really was. The stench of rotting corpses was suddenly brought to his attention, even though the smell had always been there. Being trapped in that tiny room, knowing that these prisoners were all suffering in the floors below him, knowing that they have been suffering for perhaps, decades, was too much to take in. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man took a sip of tea from the chipped mug sitting on the desk in front of him. This is exactly why he had detached himself from these prisoners, and had decided to live solely for himself. It was just a lot easier that way. It made him feel less guilty. But today was especially hard for him to keep his mind focused on ignoring the eternal suffering below him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because what exactly did these so-called ‘prisoners’ do? Absolutely nothing. They just caught the attention of the wrong person. The wretched snake of a man, the master of this entire facility, Erai. The man gulped as he remembered the stout little man, always on the tail of anything that could bring him to wealth, laughing at the suffering he brought upon others. He created this facility to capture shinobi with rare jutsu or Kekkei Genkai, and enslaved them within this underground tower to perform high risk jobs that earned Erai 100% of the profit. How the system worked here, in a way, was similar to how the five villages within the five Shinobi Nations worked. Shinobi would take on missions to fulfill for their Nation. That’s what was essentially happening here. Except, there was a lot more on the line in here in this hell. The enslaved shinobi caught here had no choice but to take on life-risking missions that could kill them. But if they chose not to take on the mission, they would be killed. After all, there is nothing Erai hated more than insubordination. Captured shinobi would sometimes starve to death if they were forgotten because there was no mission for them to take on. So even though Erai was the one everyone absolutely loathed, getting on his good side meant staying alive. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If everyone hated him so much, why couldn’t they oppose him? There were surely enough of them to take down one tiny little egotistical man. Two obstacles stand in the way. For one, there are five Shinobi who have attained the absolute trust of Erai, them being labelled as the “Pillars of the Underground,” as they ensure that order is in place. The Executioner is one of them. The man didn’t know much about them, except for the fact that they were ruthless killers who would do anything for Erai. The second reason is the powerful forbidden technique that Erai had himself. Despite having absolutely no talent as a ninja, Erai possessed one jutsu that ensured no one could oppose him. By imprinting a specific seal on the backs of people, he essentially held their lives in his hands. While he couldn’t control their movements like how Puppet Jutsu users can with puppets, he can suck the life energy out of anyone he performs the jutsu on and into himself. At this point, anyone who spends just 2 minutes in this facility would know about Erai’s cursed technique, as it is the only thing he loves to gloat about. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man sighed to himself yet again. His gaze shifted to the unravelled scroll on the desk, with the message to keep track of cell number S5. Like how shinobi missions are ranked, the people locked inside the cells were given a rank based on how useful they have proven themselves to Erai with their abilities, with S being the highest, followed by A, B, C, and D. There were only 6 people out of the total 100 who had managed to attain the S rank. Five of those S-rank shinobi are the previously mentioned “Pillars of the Underground.” Because they were all extremely capable in completing every mission they were given, no matter how gruesome, they demonstrated their utmost loyalty to Erai, earning them some freedom within the tower. They were left free to roam around, as it was clear they weren’t going to go anywhere, even if they were set free. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However, the last S-rank captive held in cell S5 never managed to obtain Erai’s trust. Or maybe they never tried. No matter the reason, it seemed that Erai was finally going to dispose of them. The security man’s gaze trailed over the top right monitor. He stared into the tiny room, taking note that nothing had changed from when he had last checked the monitor a few minutes ago. In fact, nothing had changed within that cell for days now. There was still the old wooden table with scrolls neatly piled up in one corner. To the left of the table was a sheet on the floor, where prisoner S5 lay, with another sheet covering their body. He watched as the lump underneath the sheet shifted it’s position. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“S5 is just shifting around in their sleep, I guess…”  The security guard quietly muttered to himself, “It’s amazing how they can sleep so peacefully for two days straight.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, it’s time to change shifts.” A loud voice startled the security man as he jumped and whipped around to see who was behind him. There stood the only other security officer who had managed to stay alive. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh...hey...uh, yeah, I’ll be off then,” The first security guard thanked as he felt a sense of relief knowing that he was a free man. He got up from the swivel chair, feeling pins and needles tingling on his bottom as he trudged towards the better lit hallway and away from the dark miserable room. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” The newcomer replied as he walked over to the desk to skim the open scroll on the desk, “Prisoner S5, huh? It’s a shame Erai is getting rid of them. Haven’t they been here for about 14 years now?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“14 years? That’s...that’s a while,” the security guard stopped in his tracks, but didn’t turn around to look the newcomer in the face. The only thing on his mind was to get out of there and to finally put this feeling of dread to rest. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess he finally got fed up with S5 not cooperating!” the newcomer continued to gleefully chat, “Serves them right, though, I mean Erai was kind enough to promote them to such a high rank and that’s still not enough for them?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah...it’s...it’s unforgivable,” the security guard gulped as he began to feel his body heat up. He nervously wiped his brow as soon as he noticed sweat trickling down his head. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Just let me go already</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ he thought to himself. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anyway, sorry for keeping you! You’re probably really tired!” the cheery newcomer slapped the security guard on the back, startling the latter once again. The security guard tried to flash a smile back as he felt a sense of relief wash over him again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But before he could move, the newcomer gently placed his hand on the security guard’s shoulder and whispered, “By the way, I wanted to ask...how long has prisoner S5 been gone for?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The security guard felt his stomach drop as he slowly turned his head back to stare at the top right monitor, eyes widening when he noticed the lump underneath the sheet had disappeared. Only traces of white smoke remained. Prisoner S5 is gone. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. First Arc: Not Dying Arc; Chapter 1: A Way Into Konoha</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Here we are,” a cloaked figure exhaled as they came to a stop on a tree branch. Placing an arm against the trunk, they stared out at the vast sea of trees before them, and took a moment to look behind them at virtually the same sight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Luna told me there was a tiny village just near Konoha here…” the figure whispered to themself as they continued to take in their surroundings, trying to find literally anything other than a plant. While there wasn’t anything noteworthy other than a little rabbit hopping about, the figure took a deep breath and closed their eyes. Holding up one hand with their index and middle fingers pointed in front of their face, they continued their search, this time trying to sense for chakra in particular. Their eyes flew open as soon as they detected the presence of about 60 people gathered just further up ahead. After taking one last look around, they began leaping from tree to tree, getting closer to the tiny village. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they got closer, the sounds of village life began to overtake the silence. Chatter, laughter, and even some construction. Even though everyone in that village was a stranger to the figure, they felt a strange sense of relief upon actually finding real people. They let out a sigh, only noticing just how tense they were before this when they felt their shoulders drop. According to Luna, this upcoming little village acted as a rest stop for travellers that were making their way to the Leaf Village, otherwise known as Konohagakure. In other words, there was quite a bit of foot traffic here, with new faces coming and going day in and day out. This was quite beneficial for the cloaked figure, as above all else, they needed any way to get into Konoha. Yet, despite taking an entire two days to get to this little village, or in other words, having a lot of time to think, the figure still had absolutely no idea how to get in</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But why exactly was it so hard to get into Konoha? Well, it actually wasn’t that easy in the first place. Merchants, travellers, and others submitting requests for help from Shinobi all had to be processed by the Hokage to be let in. The cloaked figure wasn’t entirely sure of how deep this little background check would be, but two things stood in the way. They didn’t have the money to act as if they had a mission for the shinobi of Konoha, and a background check on them would immediately get them locked up and interrogated. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cloaked figure sighed to themself as they continued leaping through the trees. It made sense how they had to do all of this to ensure security for the village, but it was really a pain to deal with. To make matters worse, the Fourth Great Shinobi War had ended about a year ago, meaning that tons of reporters, fans, and onlookers all had to have a look at the great hero who emerged and helped put an end to the gruesome war, Naruto Uzumaki. Having the hero in the village meant there would be more foot traffic into Konoha, which would mean higher security detail.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>I really am screwed aren’t I</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ the figure thought to themself, but immediately came to a stop as soon as they spotted a clearing up ahead through about a few more trees. Surrounding this clearing were some wooden houses and shops and a few more trees, along with what appeared to be a flowing river behind them. The figure squinted as they stuck out their neck to try to make out more of the little village. There were children running about, with people walking and talking all about the clearing. Despite its tiny size, the village was filled with so much energy and life. Staring at it for a few seconds was enough to put any worries to rest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright...I can do this,” they whispered as they leaped down from the tree. After making it onto the dirt path and into the village, they bowed to anyone they made eye contact with. The village itself was as tiny as it looked, and the only really busy place seemed to be the crowded tea shop. Clumps of people decorated the village, which most likely made it all the more suspicious that the cloaked figure was walking around alone. But it’s not like the figure could just walk up to just anyone and start a conversation. They needed to find anyone heading to the Leaf Village in the next few days and hopefully convince them somehow to let them come along. The more the cloaked figure thought about this plan, the more they realized how unlikely it would be successful. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the figure continued to wander around groups of people, they began listening in on ongoing conversations. Buying new horses...What to make for dinner tonight...How tiring tending to crops has been lately...Going to play in the nearby river...The cloaked figure stopped for a moment when they heard a couple talking about how there was an upcoming festival in Konoha where performers and vendors from other villages were invited to attend. But they were immediately disappointed to find that this couple wasn’t going. Though, there was not much the figure could do with a couple anyway, except perhaps act as a third wheel. That wouldn’t get them into the Leaf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard there are going to be soooo many performers there!” the young lady cooed at her boyfriend. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Yeah, well then where are they, Saeko?!’</span>
  </em>
  <span> the figure thought to themself as they walked past them, feeling annoyed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After walking a complete circle around the village, the figure’s heart sank as it didn't seem like anyone was headed for Konoha. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘What’s going to happen then? Am I going to be able to make it?’</span>
  </em>
  <span> the figure questioned as they began to panic, clenching their fists and they frantically searched for more people to eavesdrop in on. If they did another circle around the village, they would probably get more than just a few cautious or judging looks in return. The figure bit at their lip. No matter what, they needed to get into the Leaf Village. They weren’t just headed there for a fun vacation, this had the importance of life or death. But what are they going to do if they couldn’t even make it into the village? Their whole plan would fall apart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just calm down…calm down…you’ll be okay,” they whispered to themself, “Maybe I could try the tea shop.” Their gaze locked onto the bustling business as they headed over, holding onto a tiny sliver of hope. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, this place was a dud too. The cloaked figure sighed to themself as they stared at their almost empty wallet that they left next to the tea they caved in and bought while panicking. The waitresses, while extremely chatty, were more interested in the figure’s love life more than anything, and kept gossiping about all of the drama going on in the village. The cloaked figure had no idea who Aika and Tatsuhiro were, but apparently they were unknowingly locked in a four way love square with two other people. Other people sitting at tables appeared to be regulars instead of travellers, as their angry arguments were centered on the increasing prices of rice and red beans. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m done for,” the figure muttered, feeling completely dejected as they face-planted onto the table, “I did so much just to get here and now my plan is failing before I can even start it… what am I going to do…” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘It’s not like I can explain to anyone my situation either. Letting anyone in on my identity and what I’m trying to do would put them in danger,</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ the figure continued to think to themself, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘But I have to think of something…’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Being under a strict time limit might be too much pressure to deal with. I don’t know how much longer Luna can hold out either…I just...I have to make sure this plan is successful. I have to. In order to save them. Literally everything has gone wrong ever since that happened,’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>the figure sat up stared at their reflection in the tea mug, gripping the cup tightly, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>So… I’ll do absolutely anything to make sure this works.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘But I can’t even find a way into the village…On top of that I’m starving and broke...I haven’t eaten anything in days...I’d love to have some onigiri right about now…Maybe I could dig my way into Konoha...even though I don’t like digging...or maybe I could fly...I just need to grow wings like a bird...maybe I’ll just turn into a bird…’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Umm… Excuse me, dear customer.” The figure jumped as they felt a tap on their shoulder. They whipped around to come face to face with one of the waitresses they had chatted with. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y-Yes?” The figure fumbled with their one word. The waitress flashed a smile, trying to ignore the awkward depressing aura the figure had been emitting. “You had been asking about the travellers making their way to Konoha, right? There happens to be some people out there actually. I think they might be performers or something...most likely on their way to the festival in Konoha! I thought you would have noticed but you seemed to be...well deep in thought,” The waitress pointed out of the teahouse at a relatively large group of people flooding into the village. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only then did the figure notice that the lively chatter in the village had stopped completely as everyone stood, staring in awe at the distinctive group of individuals. The figure’s eyes widened as they began to stare as well. Travelling with this group were beautiful robes, horses lugging around boxes of cargo, silk scarves, other amazing looking props. The man walking out front seemed to exude a rather professional aura, making him seem unapproachable, yet really cool at the same time. The other people with him were all dolled up in makeup and fancy wear, despite it being obvious they had been travelling for a very long time. If the figure’s guess was right, this had to be a performance troupe. A smile crept onto their face as they realized this was their way in. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for checking out my story so far! I'm excited to post more :) I'm hoping to post once a week!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 2: The Crystal Lotus</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Bingo!” the figure exclaimed as they slammed their hands down onto the table, jumping up from their seat. Realizing immediately after that they had drawn a lot of attention from the nearby customers to themself, they quickly apologized and sat back down. After thanking the waitress, the figure began silently listening in on the performance troupe. While the lively chatter from the people in the clearing eventually resumed, it actually wasn’t hard keeping tabs on them as all of them were so clearly distressed. It was as if all of them had decided that shouting at each other despite being literally right next to each other was a good way to communicate. There were twelve of them in total, with the professional looking man standing in the center with his arms folded. The figure guessed the man was the ringleader. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can’t believe Setsuna quit just like that!” a young lady with her blonde hair up in a bun whined as she put her head in her hands, “Now what are we going to do? We’re missing one of our six big acts!” Rather than calming her down, the man next to her dressed in a flashy purple robe joined in, “At this rate, we’ll never make it big in the five hidden villages!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well it can’t really be helped, since her sister suddenly got sick and couldn’t take care of their family farm by herself-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, but what about us?? Our first performance is critical! If she’s going to leave last minute she never should have-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey! Stop right there. There’s stuff like this that happens that we can’t control, okay? There’s no point in blaming her! You should know more than anyone how stressful it is to have a family member get sick!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah...well...yeah...Sorry about that.” Everyone in the troupe collectively sighed as they solemnly stared at the ground. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What should we do, boss?” All eyes turned to the ringleader brimming with desperation, praying he had a solution. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmmm...well first everyone needs to calm down. I’m sure we’ll figure something out,” The ringleader reassured, even though it was obvious he had no idea what to do either, “It’s true, this will be our first big performance in one of the great villages and Setsuna was one of our lead dancers, but I’m absolutely sure the rest of the acts can make up for it...You’re all especially talented and hard-working individuals. I’m sure your efforts will blossom on stage whether Setsuna is here or not.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But...our performance needs these six acts, Boss. It really won’t be the same without her! She was our blue lotus...” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah…” the Ringleader mumbled, “That’s our big problem...and it’s not like we can just change our name either, can we?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I...I’d rather not, I really like our name.” Everyone sighed again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If I may interject...” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, what is it?” Someone instinctively replied back before, the troupe members realized that someone new had popped up from behind their huddled circle. Everyone quickly spun around to stare at the cloaked figure standing behind them, all jumping back in surprise as none of them had noticed them approaching. This wasn’t all that surprising either, as they all were talking very loudly amongst themselves, so much so that literally anything around them was drowned out by their conversation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, I’m sorry, could we help you with something?” the ringleader inquired as he took a step forward towards the figure.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I apologize for interrupting, but I just so happened to overhear the predicament you and your travelling group appear to be in. I may have a solution for you.” The ringleader scanned the figure up and down, taking note of the rather suspicious looking getup. From a quick glance, it’d be hard for anyone to know who this person was, as their hood just happened to cover half of their face, and the rest of the cloak covered the entire rest of their body. The ringleader proceeded with caution, “Oh? What exactly do you propose we do?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I just so happen to be a wandering performer,” the cloaked figure explained, “I may not be exactly like your lead dancer, but perhaps there is something I could do to help?” Before the ringleader could reply, a rather tall man stepped forward between the figure and the ringleader, interjecting with skepticism, “You just so happen to be a wandering performer? What a coincidence that the moment we lose our lead dancer, someone new comes in to replace her?? What’s your game here?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now, now, Tatsuya,” The ringleader placed a hand on the skeptic’s shoulder, “I agree, this is a curious coincidence, but there’s no need to talk to them with such an accusatory tone.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But...” Tatsuya trailed off as he watched the ringleader approach the cloaked figure.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You must have heard already but yes, one of our lead performers was to perform in one of our six main acts that we have been eagerly preparing for the newly appointed Sixth Hokage and the villagers of Konoha. We are at a loss as we only have five acts left, our white, red, yellow, purple, and pink lotus.” As he named each act, the respective lead performer for that act gave a little wave. Each performer was dressed in the colour of their lotus, and even had a lotus pin attached somewhere on their person. The cloaked figure nodded as they listened along.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now the performer for our blue lotus act specializes in a traditional fan dance,” the ringleader continued, “Do you...happen to have any expertise in that area?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmmm...” the cloaked figure brought a hand up to their chin, “I’ve never danced with fans before, but I do have something else to offer that may be of interest to you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The ringleader cocked his head to the side as he raised a brow, “What might that be?” The expressions on the troupe members were easy to read. While it was a long shot for people to think maybe some random stranger they just met was a professional fan dancer, they were clearly disappointed that this wasn’t the case. The cloaked figure flashed a smile before walking right past their group. The ringleader and the rest of the troupe watched in silence. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are...are they coming back?” someone from the troupe whispered. The ringleader shrugged his shoulders as he began to follow the cloaked figure, his face giving of the expression, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Well, what is there to lose?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Some of the troupe reluctantly followed, while a few skeptics, such as Tatsuya pridefully stayed put. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The figure came to a complete stop a few meters away from the river. They turned around to face the ringleader and the few members who had followed him, with their back now facing the river. Slowly, the figure’s arms emerged from the cloak to pull their hood off to reveal their face. Standing before them was a rather young looking woman with long brown hair tied up into a high ponytail. Her straight cut bangs cast a shadow over her large brown eyes, to which she closed before flashing one more smile at the ringleader and turning around to face the river again. She knelt down and paused to take a deep breath, before quickly performing a sequence of hand signs, trying to make her movements as inconspicuous as possible. From behind, it merely looked as if she were just sitting in front of a river, which wasn’t a particularly engaging act.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But, within an instant, water droplets from the river began to rise into the air, gently swirling and creating a beautiful shimmering display in the sky. It was as if each individual droplet had a mind of its own, seeing how they randomly moved about in the air. Taken altogether, the water seemed to dance in the sky, gracefully replicating ripples of water in a brilliantly blue lake. The light shining down from above added to the effect, as it was refracted through all of the water droplets, some even managing to create a rainbow in the sky. The ringleader and troupe members stared in awe. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>             The woman stared up at the result of her jutsu in the sky. While she did wear a smile on her face, her eyes held a tinge of dejection within them. She gently moved her hand up into the air, watching as the water droplets all moved accordingly and further upwards into the sky. With that same hand, she lightly began to create a ripple motion, swaying it from side to side. As if the water had somehow become even more energized than before, they all danced, swirling around the woman, continuing on with their dazzling effect. Finally, she lowered her hand, merging the droplets back with the slow flowing river, taking care not to suddenly drop all of the water in all at once. After finally merging the two, the woman stared down at the hand she had used to control the water, noticing how it was weakly shaking. With her other hand, she clutched at the shaking one, having forgotten how much chakra and precise control this technique took, but feeling glad she got to successfully perform it. While she tried to catch her breath, she wiped the sweat from her brow and turned around.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her eyes widened as she came face to face with almost every member of the village, the ringleader, and the troupe all a few feet back, staring back at her with widened eyes. An amass of tiny children all race up to the woman, excitedly grabbing at her arms and slaughtering her with questions. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Miss! How did you do that?” A girl with pigtails squealed, “That water was dancing all around you!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That was so pretty!” another child chipped in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you a performer?” The questions just kept coming, one after another and always from a different child who just randomly materialized out of nowhere. The woman, feeling a little overwhelmed as she was being pelted by children, had no idea where to look or who to answer first. A blush creeped onto her face as she realized she was now the center of attention.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I, uh, well-” Was all she could let out. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Were there really this many children in the village?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ She thinks to herself before feeling a tug on her cloak. Looking down, she sees another little girl nervously shuffling around, making it obvious that she was having  quite a difficult time making eye contact with her. The woman bent down to gently pat the girl’s head, startling her at first.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you have a question for me?” the woman asks with a smile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-yeah!” the girl squeaked, “H-how did...How did you do that?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmmm,” the woman thinks aloud, “It’s a secret...but that was magic!” The little girl’s eyes shone as she beamed at the lady, believing every single word. The little boy next to her scoffed while rolling his eyes, “There’s no such thing as magic! Obviously that was a water jutsu or something!” But the little girl seemed too entranced to listen to the boy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That was amazing!” the woman perked up upon hearing a conversation further back near the troupe. She looked up to see the waitress from the tea shop conversing with the troupe master. Immediately, she stood up from her spot, trying to get away from the screaming children and listen in on the conversation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Does your troupe have a name? Will you be performing in the festival held in Konoha?” the waitress continued with her inquiry. The ringleader looked back at his entire troupe, making sure they were all on the same page. Many of them flashed a smile back at him, giving additional reassuring nods. Satisfied, the ringleader chuckled to himself and turned to face the waitress. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You are correct ma’am, we will be having our debut performance in Konoha,” he replies with a smirk, “Our troupe is called the Crystal Lotus. We are unknown now, but have high hopes for our future. That there was a preview performed by our newest recruit.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Only after exhaling did the woman realize she had been holding her breath. While it wasn’t ideal that she had drawn so much attention to herself, she managed to secure a way into Konoha. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>It will only get harder from here,</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ she thought to herself, trying not to get too excited about securing a way in, but plastering a nervous smile on her face anyway. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 3: Setting off!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“So it turns out S5 escaped,” a short and lean man reports as he walks into a dimly-lit room. In the center of this room were four other people seated around a wooden table, all clearly disinterested in his presence and minding their business. The man walks with a sigh, taking a seat in the last remaining empty chair, “Shouldn’t we be gearing up to get them?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Man, lighten up will you?” another man with spiky black hair yawns as he leans back, placing his feet up on the table and stretching his arms above his head, “You’re way to uptight, Souta.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ew gross, get your feet off the table, Kazuya!” A long white haired girl grimaced as she started shooing him away with her hand, “Can’t you see I’m busy with something here?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t you think you’re a little young to be playing with dolls in the first place, Yua?” Kazuya retaliates with a smirk, snatching up one of them from the table and bringing it closer to his face to inspect it, “Why are you into such ugly things in the first place? I thought you said they were cute?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Give that back, you jerk!” Yua angrily snatches her doll back, comforting it with pats on the head and acting as if it had just gone through a very traumatic experience, “They’re not dolls, they’re my precious puppets okay?” Wearing a more sinister expression now, her eyes darken as she stares at her collection on the table. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Each one of these represents the shinobi that became my faithful servants after all. So of course, I would find all of them cute,” Yua’s lips curl into a smile as she brings a hand up to try and hold back a laugh, “It’s especially fun digging into them with a needle and seeing how grimace in pain...Some of them try to act tough and hold their tears in, but none of them last very long. The moment they break if the moment where I...” Yua was now cupping at her cheek as she stared down at her dolls with a very flushed face. Kazuya couldn’t help but grimace at her sadism presenting itself once again, shivering at the thoughts of when she had gone through with her fantasies on him. His gaze then trailed back over to the table where Yua had been lovingly staring for the past three minutes now. What lay in front of her were two dolls made out of yarn. Despite their relatively small size, they each were intricately detailed, perfectly matching the characteristics of the real person. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m guessing this is that one security guard then?” one of the last two remaining men seated at the table spoke up, pointing at the doll in Yua’s hands. The man pointing was the burliest out of all of them, taking up quite a bit of leg room at the table. He had scars running down his bare arms and legs, and one straight across his nose, signifying the battle experience he’s had. Or his clumsiness when encountering an enemy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah...it’s a shame what happened to him,” Yua whined, “Why’d you have to go and kill him so quick, Daichi? I wanted to have a little more fun with him.” Appearing unfazed at the mention of the dead man, the burly ninja simply shrugged his arms and went back to reading his book on exotic foods. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Enough! Why can’t you guys take this situation more seriously?” Souta chastised as he slammed his hands down on the table, “That ungrateful little witch escaped and none of you seem to care! Don’t you care about Master Erai at all??” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just calm down, why don’t you? We already knew she escaped long before you did, we’re just waiting for orders now,” the final man seated at the table mumbled, clearly angry that he had been woken up by all the yelling as he lay his head on the table. Being the most sloppily dressed out of everyone there, this man had intensely ruffled up brown hair and clearly made no effort into cleaning up his appearance as he practically appeared homeless. If it weren’t for his place at the table, one would probably think such a thing upon encountering him for the first time. Or in the case of the rest of the group here, they would probably keep thinking that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait, what? Why didn’t anyone tell me??” Souta continued interrogating the table. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just relax, Sou-Sou,” Yua chimed in, “I’ve been keeping track of her this whole time, so we’re okay!” She puts down the security guard doll and picks up the one next to it, stroking its head. Upon hearing the girl chime in, Souta jumped, feeling an immediate blush creep onto his face as waves of embarrassment and realization had set in that he had been yelling at her. Everyone’s eyes trailed over to the doll she was holding. The doll milky white skin and dark brown beady eyes, peeking out from underneath some straight cut bangs. The color of the hair was also a darker brown, and was tied up in a high ponytail. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So she’s still alive then?” the final man asked as he begrudgingly lifted himself off the table and stretched himself out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s right, Suou!” Yua cheered, “Just look at her eyes! This means I still have a chance to toy around with her!” She leaned across the table and shoved the doll into his face. Suou tilted back in annoyance but acknowledged that she was at least right. Unlike the eyes of the security guard doll who lay on the table, which were “x”s, the eyes of the prisoner S5’s eyes were circular. The dumb escapee was still alive. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So where is she now?” Kazuya piped up, finally taking his feet off the table, “She’s been gone for about three full days right? That stupid bodyguard only realized she was gone yesterday, after all. Tricked by a shadow clone of all things, haha!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You say that, but you’ve fallen for the exact same thing fifty-six times already, Kazuya,” Daichi pointed out, only getting laughter and a smack on the back from Kazuya in return. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm...she seems to be in the Land of Fire now,” Yua relayed as she had her eyes closed, completely ignoring the other two, as she had begun sending her chakra into the doll she was clutching at very tightly. Right when the others looked over at her to listen to more of her report, her eyes fluttered open as she then carefully placed the doll back down onto the table, “But I’m hungry, do we have any sweet dumplings left?” The nonchalant girl pushed herself to her feet and happily skipped over to the fridge in the corner of the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Geez, you guys are too carefree,” Souta mumbled to himself as he watched everyone rise up and follow her, “Don’t you care that the lowlife S5 dared to betray us? That wretch cannot live in the name of Master Erai!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course we know that, you idiot,” Suou retorted, helping himself to some onigiri, “But you of all people should know we can’t do anything unless given the order to.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, remember that time when you tried to go out on your own to ‘avenge’ Master Erai? The punishment you received was painful wasn’t it? That’s what you get for insubordination,” Yua added in, giggling as she reflected back on the memory and the whiplashing she was allowed to inflict on him. Souta sighed as he stared down at his hands. He couldn’t help but question their loyalties when they acted like this, but at the same time, he definitely could trust them more than anyone else held within this facility. His gaze trailed up from his hands and at the S5 prisoner’s doll. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess even S5 is afraid of death…” Souta muttered to himself as he picked the doll up from the table. Master Erai had told the five of them that S5 was to be executed soon and S5 had escaped accordingly. It was weird however, as everytime Souta or anyone had made eye contact with her, she looked terribly hollow inside. Her outward appearance truly reflected Yua’s doll form of her. She willingly took on each dangerous mission she was thrown into, almost as if she was trying her best to die. But, each time she would quietly return, alive, and clearly not too happy about it. The woman didn’t speak much either, or at all actually. Even though they held the same rank, Souta was embarrassed to say he honestly didn’t know too much about her. The few moments he did spend together with her on missions didn’t help with that. The only person who did, however, was probably Master Erai. Which is why his orders were absolute. And why Souta and everyone else here had decided to place their utmost trust in him, and to dedicate their lives to fulfilling his dream, no matter the repercussions they would all face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You all seem to be having a good time.” A deep voice bellowed throughout the room. Although the person who had spoken did not shout, the tone was enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine. Immediately the commotion halted. Souta and the other four whipped around to face Master Erai, who had been standing in the doorway. The stout looking man was on the shorter side, having a rough looking face decorated with a hairy beard and mustache. He wore an expensive black hat and suit, while his hairy fingers holding onto the ball of his cane were decorated with expensive jewels. Yes, this man was their future, the only one they needed to follow. That is exactly why prisoner S5 must be killed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone immediately got onto one knee and lowered their head, all chanting in unison, “I apologize for my rudeness, Master Erai.” The man grunted in response before tapping his cane onto the ground as a signal that they were permitted to look at him, “No matter. I’m sure you all know what the criminal, prisoner S5, has escaped in an attempt to escape just punishment. We are setting off at once!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, Master Erai!” The group chimed in harmony, rising up from their spots, “We will capture prisoner S5 and execute them!” Master Erai smirked as he watched the five, feeling mighty proud of himself for having such loyal subjects. Feeling the hairs all over his body rise up, Erai realized just how exhilarated he was from imagining the fact that the pesky rat would be dead soon. What kind of face would she make with her throat slit? Would she cry, beg, or scream? How would she take to being tortured to death? Having her fingers broken one by one, or her nails ripped off? The possibilities were endless. And he absolutely couldn't wait. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now, let’s not be rude to our friend here and address her by her real name, shall we? It’s the least we could do,” Erai walked over to Souta and stuck out his hand for the doll, who immediately handed it to him. Feeling all the more thrilled now, Erai squeezed the doll in his hand as he stared at it’s battered up body, as he growled with a sinister smirk, “Miyuki Tsukishiro.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 4: Not a Dream, But a Mission</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“So your name is Tamaki, and the reason you’re wandering around now is because your old performance troupe disbanded since no one would hire you?” the blonde woman, named Kina, questioned the cloaked newcomer with wide eyes. Upon first hearing the name, she displayed a momentary look of shock, before quickly replacing that expression with a look of despair. The brown haired woman with straight cut bangs nervously laughed as she replied, “That’s the gist of it, yes.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was lying through her teeth, but she did have her reasons for not giving away her true name. In the end, there really wasn’t a point in giving away her identity. Staring back at Kina without changing her expression, she thought to herself, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>My name is actually Miyuki, but because it’s easier to lie and say I’m someone else, I will go ahead and do that. This also means I will do whatever it takes to keep my distance</span>
  </em>
  <span>, </span>
  <em>
    <span>sorry in advance.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s so sad!” Kina grabbed Miyuki’s hands with genuine tears streaming down her face, “I’m so glad we found you then!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Technically I was the one who found you guys. Thank you again for showing up the time you did</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ Miyuki thought as she then replied out loud with a smile, “Yes I’m very glad too. While it’s only temporary, I look forward to working with you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now don’t be so formal!” Kina cheered as she began dragging Miyuki forward to catch up with the rest of the performance troupe, “After all, we’re friends now!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>We just met two hours ago</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ Miyuki raised an eyebrow, but in the end surrendered control of her body, letting herself be dragged wherever. She wasn’t sure why the blonde lady had suddenly opened up to her so quickly, and wasn’t sure what to make of this either. So much for trying to stay under the radar and not make any lasting connections with anyone. As much as she appreciated being welcomed in by someone of the troupe, Miyuki wasn’t too thrilled with having anyone poking around her fake backstory in attempts to be her friend. Either way, she was sure this wouldn’t last long anyway, as Kina’s curiosity and excitement were probably bound to fade. They had been travelling all afternoon down the common dirt path to Konoha, and were expected to arrive there in the evening. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What happened after Miyuki’s little performance was surreal. Not only did the ringleader wholeheartedly let her temporarily join the performance troupe, once he had heard her made up backstory, he had no further questions. Being in such good spirits, he then turned to the crowd to announce they were setting off. While she did feel bad about lying, she was a little thrown off by just how trusting he was. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Is this normal or is he that desperate</span>
  </em>
  <span>?’ she wondered to herself, as she watched him gleefully march way up front, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe both</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ Miyuki had even come up with extra details pertaining to her fake life, and even her fake favorite foods. Feeling like she had wasted all that time for nothing, the woman sighed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The rest of the troupe wasn’t completely on board with her joining, but the majority were quite happy their main issue of not having six acts was now solved and over with. Many of them wore the equally jolly expression of, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Now it’s just smooth sailing from here</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ as they gleefully marched down the path, nodding along to imaginary music. Miyuki felt the corners of her lips curve upward into a small smile as she watched. It honestly wasn’t very often she had seen people this trusting and carefree. While it probably wasn’t the safest way to live, it was still quite refreshing to be around. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are you smiling about?” Miyuki was snapped out of her thoughts as she realized that now, the ringleader of the skeptics, Tatsuya, had materialized by her side. He had originally been glumly walking right up front alongside the ringleader, but seemed to have teleported to her side within an instant.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, stop being so sour all the time! You’re making a terrible first impression,” Kina stuck her tongue out Tatsuya, “Why’d you come back here anyway?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I needed to make sure we were on the same page with a few things,” Tatsuya retorted before returning his glare back to Miyuki. Ah yes, one of the people who was still rightfully suspicious of her coincidental arrival. But, as unwelcoming as his attitude was, this was definitely more of what Miyuki was used to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now I’m not sure if anyone had told you, but this is a </span>
  <em>
    <span>temporary</span>
  </em>
  <span> role,” Tatsuya began, putting a lot of emphasis on the word, temporary, “If you do anything to hurt the troupe, make a bad impression on stage, or anything to tarnish our reputation, I will do whatever it takes to ensure that you’ll never be allowed into any village as a performer again. You’ll be thrown out of Konoha immediately. Just because most of the troupe here are too naive for their own good, doesn’t mean that I have to be that way too. I’ll prove this the moment you’re a step out of line, you hear me?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I understand,” Miyuki nodded calmly, half buying into his threats. Probably feeling a little less on edge now that he’s established his dominance, Tatsuya quickened his pace to catch up with the ringleader to start a rather joyous conversation. Given his attitude, and the attitudes of a few other members, Miyuki was absolutely sure they would jump at the chance to throw her out. This meant she wouldn't have very many chances to wander off and do her own thing, and that she would have to stick them for quite a bit. Realizing she may have bitten off more than she could chew, she sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry about Tatsuya,” Kina quickly apologized, “I know he’s like that, but he definitely means well. Please don’t hate him too much.” Realizing she had sighed out loud, Miyuki immediately let out, “Oh- no, that’s not- I mean, I completely understand where he’s coming from. He seems….well really passionate about this troupe. And to be fair, he’s entitled to be a little skeptical of me.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Or a lot skeptical</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ Miyuki finished off in her head. Kina’s eyes widened a little, as for the past two hours, Miyuki had never spoken this much. Feeling she had finally gotten the newcomer to open up to her, Kina quickly shifted her gaze back to the front as she felt her cheeks flush, replying with, “I’m glad you understand, and you’re absolutely right! He and Boss love our group more than anyone here. That’s why they’re both in charge! Well Boss technically is the leader and the poster-man but Tatsuya is definitely second in command. They’re both working their hardest to make their dreams come true. In fact, everyone here is!” Kina’s eyes sparkled as she clapped her hands together, feeling elated as she knew that Konoha would be their first step in doing so. The cloaked woman, while only blinking at first, then smiled at her enthusiasm. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What exactly is your dream?” Miyuki inquired. The blonde perked up to the question before quickly pulling out a long aggressively yellow ribbon from her backpack. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“One day, I’m going to be the most beautiful and famous ribbon dancer, someone who can flow as gracefully as water, but is as energetic as lightning!” Kina wore a determined smile as she gently smoothed the ribbon in her hands, “My mother gave up this goal just to raise me all on her own and I love her to pieces for it. But...that’s also the reason I want to make it big to fulfill both of our dreams!” Miyuki slightly widened her eyes upon hearing Kina mention her mother. For a brief moment her gaze shifted downwards, but, realizing she wasn’t alone right now, she caught herself in time before Kina could notice. Trying to recover from the momentary discomfort she felt, Miyuki returned a calming smile back at the blonde, “I’m sure your mother is proud of you for working so hard to make your dreams happen.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I really hope so. And um...thank you for listening to me ramble on like that,” Kina returned the ponytail woman’s gaze with a slightly calmer one, now appearing a lot more serene than the previous energetic persona she had been presenting, “But why are you travelling about as a dancer still? Do you have a dream as well?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Me?” Miyuki blurted out, feeling extremely caught off guard by the seemingly simple question, “I...I don’t really have one.” She silently kicked herself for not presenting the twenty additional details she had crafted for her fake backstory, and instead took the question personally. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see...oh! Are you just travelling around to see the world and to figure out what exactly you want to do with your life?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-yeah, exactly!” Miyuki chuckled as she scratched at the back of her neck, all while feeling relieved that Kina came up with the perfect excuse for her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Having a dream</span>
  </em>
  <span>…’ Miyuki thought to herself as she looked up at the setting sun in the sky. When she was younger, she always had a direction in life she was willing to put her all into. She also had people she wanted to make proud, those whose dreams she wanted to carry just for the sake of seeing their smiles. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But after living through what she considered to be hell thanks to Erai, she didn’t and couldn’t even consider the luxury of being happy. There really wasn’t a point to finding happiness when there were people in the world who made it their life mission to see her or anyone suffer. This also meant she didn’t see the point of having dreams. Even though she was plenty young, 28 to be exact, she felt she had aged about eight decades or so. And in all honesty, the woman wasn’t sure how she would live on for much longer either.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Erai was the bane of Miyuki’s existence. He was someone who didn’t have a shred of humanity, being plenty capable of enslaving innocent people and locking them up for personal gain. He would have no trouble pitting two people against one another in a match to the death, as during the times he’s done this, all he did was laugh from the sidelines, even going so far as to mock the bloody messes his prisoners had become. This wasn’t second hand information either, as the woman knew exactly what this felt like, having lived through it. No matter who one made ties with, Erai would always obliterate their existence, as he believed the only tie his slave needed was with him. What made things worse was that he hadn’t even achieved his status and revered reputation through his own power, but by relying on others more power than him, yet who had become completely submissive to his demands. The “Underground Pillars” of the prison, so to speak. They were his loyal servants who did all the dirty work for him, while the man himself would sit back in his little throne, feeling elated over how gullible the five were. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This was just the kind of person he was. Erai would feed those he deemed worthy of his attention with lies and affection, prodding them further into fulfilling all of his desires for him. This was exactly the case with the five. However, for the other prisoners he wouldn’t even bat an eye, deeming them as useless tools who were just ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>wastes of space</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ He was truly one of the kings of the business underworld, having amassed many backhanded and cruel tactics to accumulate the wealth he held today. Simply imagining the look of that tiny man was enough to make Miyuki’s blood boil as she clenched her firsts, further remembering  the horrible memories she spent locked up in her cell. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For the rest of the walk to Konoha, the sun continued to set. Miyuki would occasionally glance up at the sky, feeling apprehensive every time as the bright oranges, reds, and yellows would eventually shift into pitch black nightfall. She wasn’t exactly sure why she loathed nightfall to her very core. Maybe it was because of how it was always dark in that prison cell. With the colours in the sky continuing to darken, Miyuki could only glare up with contempt as feelings of apprehension began to set in. The woman made a huge effort to not let the blonde notice these expressions, who herself continued to spout out conversation with ease, thereby lightening up the atmosphere that surrounded the two. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually, the exhausted troupe arrived at Konoha. The giant dark green wooden gates towered over them all, as multiple emotions began to fill each member. Excitement, apprehension, anxiety, and amazement at all of the warm glowing lights and the liveliness of the people in the village. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>I thought the tiny village from before was energetic...but compared to Konoha…</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Miyuki’s thoughts trailed off as she began scanning the interior. Even though they were just at the gates, it was already glaringly obvious how overwhelming one of the five great nation’s hidden villages could be. Plenty of people were scattered about, all adding to the vivacious atmosphere. Far back in the distance and straight up ahead, Miyuki spotted the pale red Hokage office. Gulping, she bit her lip, as she realized she was actually here. </span>
  <em>
    <span>She made it to Konoha</span>
  </em>
  <span>. A million thoughts began to race through her head as she continued staring down the building, unknowingly clenching her fists as she did so. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t this amazing?” Kina excitedly whispered while tugging at Miyuki’s cloak, snapping her out of her thoughts. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah...it really is,” Miyuki commented back, remembering the pitch black darkness of her old cell, “I’m definitely not used to a big village like this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve lived on a farm my entire life...well actually pretty much everyone here has...” Kina explained as she shifted her gaze between Miyuki and Konoha, “It’s so exhilarating seeing a hidden village like this for the first time! We’re really about to make our dreams come true!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tilting her head down, Miyuki’s gaze darkened as she slightly furrowed her brows, remembering her conversation with the blonde from earlier on in the day, thinking to herself with her mind made up, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘I may not have a dream, but I do have a mission. No matter what it takes, even if it costs me my life, I have to kill Erai.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chatper 5: The Disappointment That Comes With Reality</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Clutching her sparsely filled wallet, Miyuki poked her head back into the main hotel room she shared with Kina within the Konoha Inn. Unbeknownst to her, the ringleader had managed to book a number of rooms prior to their arrival, just in time too, as ever since the Fourth Ninja War ended, the inns are now constantly booked and full. According to the ringleader and Tatsuya, everyone, though the latter man was mainly glaring Miyuki down, had said they better appreciate how lucky they were to all receive lodging, as otherwise one or two people would be sleeping on the streets. Shuddering at the thought of having to shivering herself asleep under a dark sky with nothing but her thin cloak as a blanket wasn’t ideal, and was something she didn't have to go through again if she could help it. Twenty times was more than enough. So yes, she was more than grateful to the dance troupe for booking an inn, as lying with fluffy white pillows and a thick warm blanket was the most peaceful and comforting way to relax, if she could ignore the very loud obnoxious snoring coming from her neighbour. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you want me to get you anything? I’m about to head out for a walk and wanted to have a look around the village,” Miyuki asked, breaking the tranquil silence. Kina giggled to herself as she rolled over on her bed, holding an open book above her face as she replied back without sparing a glance, “You’re really taking it easy here, aren’t you?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘So are you</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ Miyuki thought as she stared at the spread of novels ranging from shounen manga to even a dusty old history book, laid across Kina’s bed. In addition to that, the blonde was already on her third bag of potato chips, despite only having started her lazing around a mere five minutes ago. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As if she had read her thoughts, Kina sat up with a smirk, closing the book in her hand, “You just thought that I was taking it easy here too, didn’t you?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...A little,” Miyuki felt her eye twitch as she forced on a smile, feeling as if she had just been caught red-handed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Haha, it’s okay because you’re right! I’ve only been 12 hours but I already love it here!” Kina wholeheartedly laughed, “Now as for anything you could get me…” She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, appearing extremely deep in thought. However, she seemed to sit in place for what felt like 5 minutes, to the point where Miyuki wasn’t sure if she had somehow fallen asleep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you can’t think of anything, that’s okay too-“</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I got it!” Kina’s eyes flew open as she exclaimed, “Icha-Icha Tactics!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Icha- what?” Miyuki cocked her head to the side in confusion. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it! It’s a really famous book!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wha- What’s it about?” Miyuki inquired, already thrown off by the name. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I haven’t read it myself, but I heard it gets rather saucy,” Kina winked, “Plus it was written by one of the Legendary Sannin, the one and only, Master Jiraiya!” Feeling her eyes widen upon hearing his name, Miyuki stopped in her tracks. Master Jiraiya was one of the most powerful shinobi, having originated from Konoha. He played a massive role in the Second Great Shinobi War, earning him the title as one of the Legendary Sannin, along with Princess Tsunade, and Orochimaru.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I had no idea he wrote a book…” Miyuki unknowingly whispered aloud. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Amazing, right?!” Kina leapt up off the bed to grab at Miyuki’s hands, “That’s why if you ever see this book around, I’d definitely like to read it!” Nodding, Miyuki agreed with a smile, “I’ll take a look around then. I’m sure we passed by a bookstore on that tour last night.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks! You’re the best!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And so, Miyuki was off. Exiting the room of the inn and eventually the inn itself, Miyuki slipped into her beige cloak, pulling the hood over her face once again. As she stepped out of the building, slowly closing the door shut behind her, she turned to stare down the long main road of Konoha, catching sight of the leafy green village gates and recalling last night’s events. After the troupe had finally arrived, everyone was extremely tired. Luckily, after just a quick peek of the inside, the tired yawns and sleepy trudging were replaced with whispers of excitement and energetic hopping. The troupe seemed both equally excited and anxious to perform for the war hero, the Sixth Hokage, and everyone else in the village. As murmurs and nervous fidgeting began to arise within the group, the ringleader had informed the two Shinobi sitting on guard out front of their expected arrival for the festival tomorrow. After receiving small tickets labelled “performers,” that which they were expected to keep on their person at all times, most of the troupe were ushered inside to nearby lodging. As for the ringleader and Tatsuya, they were led straight to the Hokage’s office to indulge and exchange formal greetings. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Miyuki then began to scan the buildings lining up the main path, peering into a few alleyways and down some other streets branching off from the main one. Despite it being quite early in the morning, there was a tinge of excitement in the air as quite a few people were scattered about, with additional banners and boards being set up in preparation for tonight’s festival. Shops and restaurants were only just beginning to open their doors, ushering any customers loitering around inside. Despite the cold air attacking Miyuki’s face, she still couldn’t help but feel a little joy as she watched the people nearby. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But there was a place Miyuki wanted to stop by today. Even though the girl was set to perform tonight, preparations would only really begin in about an hour. Apparently after meeting with the Sixth Hokage, the ringleader and Tatsuya were absolutely elated, so much so that they went drinking afterwards. The night right before the big performance. Miyuki thought that the other members of the troupe would agree with her in thinking, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shouldn’t they be drinking after the performance itself?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ But as it turns out, the other eight troupe members all went drinking in different bars around town as well. As a result, all ten of them finally returned to the lodge at around 3 am, collapsing in their respective rooms and collectively deciding to meet up 3 hours later than had been originally planned. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because Kina and Miyuki were bunking together in one room, they honestly had no idea what was going on until they spotted the troupe members collapsed in front of the lodge, screaming at one another for having the audacity to drink the night before their performance. The two girls, having both been completely left out of the loop of this whole drinking circle, were instead spending the rest of their night chatting and enjoying some fresh air from their balcony window. Miyuki sighed, thinking to herself, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>What a mess...are they really going to be okay?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Upon seeing the other ten members all causing a ruckus with their insanely flushed faces, the pair of girls knew it was on them to drag them back up to their rooms. If they left them out there they really would sully their reputation more than they already may have. The two glanced at one another, both understanding the weight of the mission they would have to undertake and patting one another on the back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sighing as she reflected back on that night, Miyuki remembered having to be the one to drag Tatsuya up three flights of stairs and hearing him call her his grandfather over and over again. She wasn’t sure why he was yelling about his grandfather in the first place, but clearly he had a very insane grudge against him. With this, Miyuki couldn’t help but have a lesser opinion of everyone here. Kina, while having started out optimistic, ended up feeling just as exhausted and annoyed with her fellow group members. Shaking her head to rid herself of these memories, Miyuki knew that at least now, she had time to do what she wanted without being hunted down by Tatsuya. He probably owed her anyway as she took extra care to make sure he wouldn't choke on his own vomit. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Either way...Konoha really has changed so much...” Miyuki whispered to herself as she began to walk down the street, trying to find her bearings. Compared to the last time she had been here, the structure and placement of these buildings were all vastly different. Peering a little closer at them, she took note of the rather newly sanded wood holding each structure up, noticing how they all displayed a lack of rot. The newly renovated village was likely due to the destruction of it during an attack by a group of rogue ninja, known as the Akatsuki, or so she had heard. In particular, the very leader himself had come to attack the Leaf, all while searching for the nine-tailed beast jinchuuriki, Naruto. Luckily, Naruto had appeared right when despair had reached its peak, helping to defeat the enemy and bring down the number of casualties to a miraculous zero. All that was left was the destruction of the village itself, but as opposed to losing the lives of many citizens and shinobi, this was definitely the preferable consequence. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Continuing to scan around the village as she let herself just mindlessly walk around, Miyuki’s eyes darted to every nook and cranny she would lay her gaze upon, yearning to find anything to feel nostalgic over. But alas, the renovation not only destroyed the old Konoha, but also anything that could elicit any old memories and feelings of sentiment for the girl. Instead, all she had brewing inside of her was a pit of emptiness, feeling it grow wider and wider as she slowly felt herself descend into a state of resentment. She had thought that perhaps walking through Konoha would help her to forget these agonizing emotions, but so far, it was doing the opposite.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she subconsciously decided to stop in her tracks, she looked up to see where her mindless wandering had brought her. The building that proudly stood before her was a small medicinal herb shop in what appeared to be one of the more isolated parts of the village. Miyuki stared at the sign sitting overtop the slanted roof, eyes widening as she realized that it was the exact same it had always been. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Perhaps it wasn’t destroyed within the Akatsuki attack! Feeling her heart race, she held onto a glimmer of hope, even possibly shifting away from her previous mindset as she murmured, “Is this really…” Although the old markings and even the smell wafting from the inside were very different now, this rebuilt version still seemed quite similar to the original shop she had known and loved. Feeling emotions building up inside of her, Miyuki slid the wooden door open, almost expecting to see the familiar faces of the people most important to her standing behind the counter. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But, to her disappointment, they weren’t there, and nothing was the same. Immediately, her heart sank, as she found the exact opposite. The entire interior, including the shelves, labelled signs, and even products were all entirely different. As opposed to the shelves being stocked with fresh greenery hiding within each well-maintained wooden box, with each emitting their own natural aroma, there lay rotting weeds in dusty old cubbies, as if they were simply waiting to die. The person standing behind the counter grumbled to himself as he looked up, casting a look of annoyance up at the newcomer as he realized that someone had dared to disturb his leisurely tea drinking. Rather than a joyful greeting, the old man cleared his throat as he scanned her up and down. After a brief second, he turned his attention back to his mug of tea, having decided that avoiding eye contact was the best course of action as he had deemed her unworthy of his time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taking that as an okay to look around, Miyuki began wandering around, each step feeling heavier than the last as dread continued to build up inside of her. While she wasn’t expecting things to be the exact same, she had still held onto hope that something, no matter how small would be preserved. It was dumb of her to think that way, wasn’t it? Now she was extremely disappointed, and her day was ruined. This wasn’t the medicinal herb shop she recognized. No, this was some lazily and unkempt storage room that clearly wasn’t worth anyone’s time. Finding it practically unbearable to stay here, Miyuki silently ducked back out of the shop, trying to suppress the tears welling up in her eyes as she slid the door shut behind her. </span>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It took a while to get here but, finally an actual canon character appearance next chapter, woooo! Thank you to those who are sticking around and anyone new popping in! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 6: A Normal (?) Bookstore Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>After wiping the tears from her eyes, Miyuki sniffled as she found her way back to the main road, to where she had previously spotted the bookstore. Despite just having undergone a whole rollercoaster of emotions, she still had quite a bit of time left before having to meet up with the rest of the troupe. Not having much else to really do aside from silently cursing the village, she decided to search for that famous book. Where better than a bookstore? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she tried to drag herself out of this depressing mentality, she thought, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Even if I’ve lost all faith in the village, that doesn’t change what I have to do. I have to stay focused seeing that I don’t have much time left</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ Knowing this, it was all the more tedious having to work so closely with the performance troupe, seeing that, one little misstep would cost her her rights to stay in the village. Tatsuya would make sure of that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So, on top of her own agenda, she had to factor in coordinating with the performance troupe as well. While she didn’t intend to stay in the village for long, she still had two tasks on her to-do list. First, the woman needed to find a lot of wire and explosive tags. While she didn’t think that would be too hard of a task to accomplish given she was in a village crowded with ninja, that didn’t mean they would easily give out such dangerous tools in the first place. So that meant she’d probably have to resort to stealing. The last of her two tasks involved finding a high-ranking Shinobi within the village, preferably a jounin class or higher, or anyone who could gain access to the death records of Konoha. Why exactly would she need to go out of her way to befriend someone, knowing that she wanted to keep a constant low profile? Because she needed to leave a record of Erai’s horrendous deeds. But, there were a lot of hurdles that came along with this. Who’s to say that anyone would believe her situation and take her seriously? She was a dancer, part of a performance troupe. At most they’d probably laugh and ridicule her. That would lead to a dead end, and definitely wouldn't be an ideal situation for her. To make things worse, she was under a time constraint regarding this final task. No matter what, she had to leave this information behind, to any willing takers, right before Erai and his group made it to the village. Any sooner would prove to be rather fatal to her plan. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But why exactly had she decided to visit Konoha in the first place? The reason was rather simple. It was a sentimental one. In all honesty, Miyuki would’ve had a much easier time sneaking into other hidden villages that were very much closer to the prison. Yet, much to her regret, her feet dragged her here anyway. Feeling a migraine come on, Miyuki silently clutched at her head, wincing as she did so. Honestly, drafting out the groundwork for big large plans like this wasn’t her forte. Thinking about all of the tasks she had to do within such a short time interval was nothing less than mind-boggling. Not only did she have to commit theft and </span>
  <em>
    <span>befriend</span>
  </em>
  <span> someone, she had to engage in a performance as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Upon finally reaching the bookstore, Miyuki sighed, stopping at a book stand parked outside, paying only half of her attention to skimming the titles and the other half to formulating the specifics of her plan. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she continued to half-heartedly look through the selection, she took a moment to glance up behind the stand, through the dusty window, and into the store. Given that it was still early morning, it wasn’t a surprise to see it so sparsely populated, with only two customers inside, along with a woman sitting at the cash register. Out of the two customers, one was a teenager pacing back and forth between two bookstands, seemingly hesitant to pick between horror and comedy. Shivering as she wasn’t a fan of the former, Miyuki redirected her gaze onto the other customer, causing her to freeze on the spot. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Why does this day just keep getting worse?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Miyuki wondered, feeling beads of sweat emerge and trickle down her forehead as she continued to blankly stare at the customer. Luckily for her, their back was pointed to her. Unfortunately for her though, she recognized the man despite that. She could recognize this guy anywhere. The tall, spiky greyish hair remnant of either an old man or a member of the Hatake clan. Miyuki really truly wished for it to be the former. Feeling a shiver run down her spine, she gulped as she reflected back on her previous encounters with his profile, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hatake Kakashi</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
  <em>
    <span>A powerful jounin-level shinobi from the Leaf Village...someone who wields a single sharingan in his left eye, having copied over 1000 jutsu. From the information I had gathered on him, it was recommended to never engage and to flee on sight.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Yet, unfortunately for many ninja who had crossed paths with him, they didn’t have that option.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>The most terrifying thing about him isn’t his Sharingan or lightning-style concentrated chakra attack. No, rather it’s his sharp eye and overwhelming strategic and analytical ability in assessing both his opponent and their jutsu,</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Miyuki continued to run through the description she had written up on him, reciting it word for word, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>So basically, he’s someone I should be avoiding at all costs seeing how troublesome he would be to deal with. While I am looking for a high-ranking Shinobi, if I have someone like him breathing down my neck and watching my every move, there’s a chance he’ll find out more than he needs to know.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Yet, Miyuki couldn’t help but wonder if he would believe her case. That was all she really needed out of anyone in the village. For someone to take the information she had to provide seriously. Nevertheless, she couldn’t tell anyone anything until the very end of her time. Running into someone now was less than ideal. Except she technically didn’t run into him. If she just turned around and walked away, she could escape without a worry. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As if to spite her, the moment she tried to flee, the man turned around on his spot, tilting his head downwards to stare right back into her eyes. Feeling her eye twitch and kicking herself for taking so long, the woman quickly tilted her head down to try and rid herself of any suspicion, not realizing that it only did the opposite. While it was brief, she did manage to catch a glance at both of his eyes. While they both added to his rather aloof demeanor, they were both also </span>
  <em>
    <span>black</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He no longer possessed the sharingan in his left eye. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not really sure how to take this but also knowing she didn’t have much time to care, Miyuki immediately picked up a random magazine and began flipping through it, practically hearing her heartbeat in her ears. Was he still watching her? At this point if he’s still looking at her that makes him the weird one right? It’s not like she was staring at him for </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> long anyway. Just five minutes. That’s very little time compared to a lot of things, like the length of a year. As thoughts continued to race through her head, the woman felt her heart sink as she knew he was still staring at her. He wasn’t even being subtle about it either. The audacity. Yet, Miyuki continued to nervously flip through the pages, clearly not having caught sight of what she was reading. As she did so, she felt a tug on her cloak, instinctively letting out a high-pitched yelp afterwards. Feeling her face flush for making such a loud noise, she quickly glanced downwards, making eye contact with her attacker. It was a young boy. With a huge grin plastered on his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Raising an eyebrow as she lowered the magazine, she watched as the child stuck out an obnoxious little finger at her hands, hollering his question, “Are you a pervert?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wh-what?” Miyuki let out in a rather unnatural, gruff, and deep voice, realizing how much that contrasted with her high-pitched yelp. Immediately she glanced downwards at the magazine in her hands, this time, actually taking in what actually turned out to be full of women wearing skimpy bathing suits. And on every page too. She swore, some of them weren't even bathing suits, they were just literally just string- As the woman continued to feel her face overheat from the exposed bikini models, the child, being slightly taken aback by her sudden deep voice, continued to prod on, “Are you a pervert then?? Which one’s your favorite?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Miyuki didn’t know much about swimsuits or even her favorite ones seeing how she couldn’t swim, but she did know one thing. She needed to get away from this kid. He was embarrassing her in public and clearly enjoying every second of it. But she wasn’t going to let him have his way anymore. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Clearing her throat, Miyuki replied in the same deep voice, deciding to commit to it fully, “Yes. And my favorite is this lady right here.” After shoving the open magazine into his face to demonstrate how she wasn’t afraid of being outed as a pervert, she chucked it right back onto the rack, and proudly fled from the scene. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And right into the bookstore itself. All three people inside the store had just witnessed the events taken place regarding this stranger. How they felt about it they didn’t even know, as they all just stared at the gruff sounding cloaked figure, unsure if it was safe to let someone like that walk around here in the first place. Clearly the child outside didn’t think so, as his face was beet red. The kid didn’t seem to think the stranger would react in that way at least. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Realizing how bad of a position she was stuck in, Miyuki knew she couldn’t just walk right back out. Could she? Probably not, since that would just garner more unwanted attention, clearly unaware that all attention had been redirected to solely her presence. Exhaling softly, the woman slowed her pace, deciding to maybe circle around the shelf and act like a normal customer would help. Technically, she was a normal customer so this shouldn’t be a problem. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she began to execute her plan, 100% convinced it would work, she started off by multitasking, half paying attention to her search for the famous Icha-Icha Tactics book, with the other half being hyper aware of one of the most bloodthirsty ninja standing literally five feet away from her. But, as she eventually habituated to her surroundings, feeling the steam blow off and away from her head, her nervous fidgeting slowly transitioned into a relaxed stroll, focusing all of her attention onto the search. It had honestly been forever since she had been in a bookstore. Being locked up really does have its disadvantages. As she began whispering the titles of all the books she skimmed over, she could feel her shoulders relax and her expression soften. She had forgotten how much she missed small moments like this. Contrary to expectations, there were quite a few interesting titles she genuinely wanted to read more of. Unfortunately, she was broke and had no money on her so the most she could do was marvel at their sight, taking in their rather woody scents.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Plant anatomy, books on medicinal herb distribution, and even books covering some newly discovered flowers all caught her attention. All of Miyuki’s older books the woman had gone through at least four times prior coming here, so seeing some fresh new covers was an absolute treat. She even got a little giggle in at a manga about a happy sprouting sapling, though it didn’t seem to be selling well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Icha-Icha Tactics...Ah, here it is!</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ Miyuki plastered a smile over her face as she finally found her target. The cover itself was rather...interesting, as there sat a white figure in a thinking position, emitting white thought bubbles filled with hearts in prohibited signs. So this is the legendary book, written by the famous Master Jiraya. She could only guess what this book was about based on the cover and Kina’s description, but felt her guess probably wasn’t too far off from the truth. Kina may have some interesting tastes. But, she did ask for the book, and luckily, there was just one copy left. Feeling a hint of excitement upon finally finding it, she reached at it with her left hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However, the moment she grabbed a hold of it, another hand in a fingerless glove grabbed the book at the same time. Startled, Miyuki immediately pulled her hand back, taking a step back and turning to face her competition. Tilting her head upwards to peer out from underneath her cloak, she felt her stomach drop upon catching sight of a bluish black mask covering up the face of a man with a long scar running straight down his left eye, and the same spiky grey-white hair she had spotted earlier. She let down her guard for one second and this had to happen. But, getting a closer look at him, she realized her eyes hadn’t deceived her the first time. Kakashi no longer held the sharingan in his left eye. The thing that made him Kakashi of the Sharingan was no longer there. So what exactly was he now? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Either way, whatever story he had for this, she still couldn’t believe she had actually forgotten she was currently in the same room as this scary, but mostly bored and nonchalant looking guy. And all because of plant manga too. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Just how absent-minded can you be?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ she was screaming internally. The woman was in a pinch and didn’t know how to deal with it. But, it looks like her feet did. Spinning on her heels, Miyuki whipped around and began to walk away from the situation altogether. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry, were you looking to pick up this book too?” A relatively low pitched voice broke the silence. Only upon hearing someone speak did she notice how she had been holding her breath. Miyuki froze on the spot, slowly turning back and around to face the man, keeping her head low as to hide most of her face. He held this book up with his right hand, displaying it in front of her as he calmly awaited her response. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“U-uh, yes I was, but I don’t mind if you take it,” Miyuki responded in the deepened voice she had previously committed to, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible. Flipping the book around in his hand, Kakashi stared at the cover for a bit before extending his arm out to hand the book over, “I actually have a copy of this book already, so you can take it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“O-Oh...thanks,” the low-pitched woman stuttered as her trembling fingers grabbed a hold of it. She quickly jerked her hand back to her side as the man silently pulled back his own.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you also a fan of Master Jiraya’s books?” Kakashi inquired, clearly not willing to let the conversation end, flashing a relaxed eye-smile. Shoving his hands in his pockets pretty much screamed that he was parking himself on the spot, much to her dismay. Even the expression on his face oozed genuine interest in wanting to discuss the contents of the book, as well as the famous author. Miyuki took a moment to stare down at the book in her hand, flipping it over in her hand to stare at the back cover. Staring at the 18+ symbol at the back, she thought to herself, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>This must be one hell of a story</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ To think that such an aloof and standoffish appearing guy would be so invested in a book like this. Maybe he wasn’t such a terrifying person after all? Closing her eyes with a sigh, Miyuki flipped the book over in her hand one last time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 7: Fleeing From the Scene!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>With a quick bow, Miyuki ducked out of the conversation, past the blinking man and straight for the cash register, almost slamming the book down onto the counter. Eying the pair, the cashier looked startled at first, before leisurely proceeding with the usual customer employee check-out banter. After taking out her virtually empty wallet to pay for the book, Miyuki quickly dumped all of the coins out onto her hand and handed them to the cashier, not wasting any time and effort to count them. The additional neatly folded performer’s tag she received upon entering the village fell out as well, and as she felt daggers being stared into her back this time, she quickly shoved the ticket back into her wallet. She should have enough. Just barely enough. But still enough though. The woman knew how panicked she probably appeared right now, but honestly couldn’t help it. She just wanted to leave and never come back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>I just said no because I wanted to get out of there...but now he’s just even more suspicious of me</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ Miyuki thought, feeling a wave of realization and fear run through her. What if he followed her around the village? She wouldn’t be able to shake him off. This was his </span>
  <em>
    <span>turf</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He knew the village better than she did. What if he cornered her into those dark alleyways, mimicking those horror situations she had read in books before? Would he do that?? Upon remembering his nonchalant looking face, she wouldn’t put it past him. Not only was their conversation awkwardly short, but she also couldn’t help but feel he found her extremely suspicious. And why wouldn’t he? That perceptive blood-hound was probably able to figure out her full name, backstory, and even favorite type of tea just from a single whiff of her fear. The only thing she could really do to salvage livelihood would be to </span>
  <em>
    <span>run</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Run and never look back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yet that was especially hard, given the cashier, who was steadily placing each coin, one by one into the cash register, squinting as she did so, as if she were about to pass out. What, was she not a morning person? Feeling annoyance built up inside of her as she silently watched the most tired person alive, she half considered just grabbing the book and bolting. Dissatisfied grunts escaped her lips as she began fidgeting around, shuffling around on the spot and folding her arms. How many hours had passed since this transaction began? Glaring down at the cashier’s hands, she felt a little relief knowing that this pain would be over soon. Just three coins left to drop into the register- Ah she just dropped one onto the floor. Noticing her palms were sweating now, the woman simply decided to just go with plan A. Theft. Except not really, because she had paid with the rest of her life’s savings for this smut. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In her one hand, Miyuki held an iron grip onto her wallet, fingers digging into the poor hollowed out pouch. She needed to move quickly if she was to get out of here at lightning speed. Immediately she brought her hand behind her back, flicking her wrist in an attempt to chuck it into her, what she believed to be her open weapon’s holder, securely strapped up behind her waist. Ironically enough, she had no weapons on her, but it was a very convenient place to leave her wallet and potential other things. As she did so, her other free hand shot out from the comforts of her cloak, reaching for the book on the counter. The cashier’s head was slowly emerging from up and behind the counter, after having just picked up the coin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But then, Miyuki's hand stopped in the air, just a few inches away above the novel. For a brief moment, her eyes widened as she felt a shiver run down her spine. The man staring at her wasn’t the problem. The bloodlust he exuded for that single second was. What happened? She hadn’t necessarily done anything wrong. So why was he…?  She couldn’t even bring herself to flash a glance back. The woman didn’t want to. Miyuki just knew she had to leave. Why this man had murderous intent in a bookstore so early in the morning when everyone else was clearly just having trouble staying awake was beyond her. But it didn't matter. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kakashi was still staring right at her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Here’s your book-” The cashier groggily muttered, extended the book out towards the very terrified customer. Realizing that somehow the cashier had finally finished the transaction, Miyuki snatched the book out of their hand, executing a perfect bow as a ‘thank you’ and accidentally slamming her forehead onto the counter. While it hurt, being stuck in the bookstore and dealing with the cashier and Kakashi was a lot more painful. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you alright- Oh you’re leaving- Uhh, have a nice day,” The cashier waved back. Miyuki didn’t look back as she sped-walked out of the store, feeling the unbearable tension slowly but surely lift from her shoulders with every freeing step she took. Relief washed over her, allowing for her to relish in the fact that she had just escaped yet another life-threatening situation. She really was on a roll this week. Now she tred, ignoring the fact that her legs had been trembling, being completely and utterly free. Not once did she glance back at the store, swearing that she would never look back as her future was bright and ahead of her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yet, after walking a couple of blocks, the woman finally built up the nerve to maybe peak behind her. As she didn't feel any bloodlust emitting from any individuals on the street, she wondered if perhaps she had been dreaming up that sensation. Miyuki wasn’t exactly a morning person after all, so it made sense if her radar was a bit off. But, if he were right behind her, she knew for sure that she would cry. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Slowly rotating her head back, the woman took a quick scan of the view behind her. There the bookstore was in the distance, and there all the normal villagers were, going about their day. No scary spiky white-haired man anywhere. Breathing out a sigh, Miyuki felt a smile climb onto her face as she slowed her walking pace. Maybe she was overthinking things. If he wasn’t following her now, clearly the woman couldn’t have been </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span> suspicious inside that store. Gleefully hugging the smut to her chest, she even went as far as to dramatically wipe away some sweat from her brow. Yes, the pain from having slammed her forehead down onto the counter by accident was still there, and she could feel it throbbing, but that didn’t matter right now. She was safe.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Miyuki could finally relax. How long had she spent in there? While she felt at least six months had passed, most of her knew that couldn’t be right. Maybe a few hours? Or actually probably just half an hour. Either way, judging from the position of the sun in the sky, Miyuki decided that heading to the performance venue to regroup with the rest of the troupe would be a good idea. Flashing one more glance behind her and confirming she really wasn’t being tailed, she then closed her eyes as she tried to envision a possible path for her to take to get there. Kina had excitedly shown Miyuki a map of Konoha before they went to bed last night, pretty much drilling into her where exactly the performance would be held. That and the ninja dog kennels. So she was pretty much set in terms of finding the important sights of the village. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmmm...If the BBQ restaurant and bar are here...then I just need to turn right down that alleyway, turn left and then head straight until I reach the little forested area,” she murmured to herself as she waved her right hand around in the air, following the directions she murmured. With her other hand, she quickly stuffed the book into her ninja tool pouch. As Miyuki neared the upcoming alleyway to her right, she spun on her heels and veered into the dark passageway, having tilted her head downwards to glance downwards at the pouch she clipped shut. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However, she had let down her guard too much, being completely engrossed with making sure her pouch was securely closed to notice the figure she breezed by. Yet, the moment she did so, Miyuki immediately felt that something was off, whipping around and coming face to face with a figure, staring straight into a familiar dead-eyed stare she had learned to dread. As if a switch had flipped inside of her, she immediately leapt back, deeper into the dark alleyway to put some distance between them, feeling her heart thump against her chest and listening to her breathing quicken as she locked eyes with the glaring man. With a sigh, he casually lifted himself off of the wall to slowly step in front of her and out into the sunlight. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have a rather deep voice for a woman,” Kakashi made a casual comment as he shoved his hands into his pockets, contrasting greatly with the woman’s demeanor. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t that a little rude?” Miyuki felt her eye twitch as she impulsively retaliated in her natural higher-pitched voice. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So that’s your real voice,” he remarked, almost in a mocking tone. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah-” the woman slapped her hand over her mouth, realizing her mistake. He had tricked her. Lowering her hand, she broke off their eye contact, gazing downwards as she replied in that gruff voice from before, “N-No...this is...my real voice…” However, that single sentence held a lot of inconsistencies and voice cracks on its own, as Miyuki was clearly frazzled. It was a solid effort though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>I guess I really wasn’t overthinking</span>
  </em>
  <span>...’ Miyuki assessed, remembering that momentary feeling of fear she had felt in that bookstore. On top of that, she was definitely suspicious as all heck. Apparently switching voices, wearing a cloak, slamming her head into the counter, and flashing magazines at children weren’t at all norms in Konoha. She couldn’t say she was too surprised, but had really thought she could walk away scott-free. Of course he’d track her down. Being an absolute stranger to a long-time resident of the village probably didn’t help her case either. Now she was living out her worst nightmare from ever since an hour ago. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She needed to get out of this. Worst case scenario, Kakashi viewed her as an enemy, thus eliciting a quick capture, followed by interrogation. This would be a setback she could not recover from. But he hadn’t made a move yet. Because he wasn’t sure exactly what she was. There was a festival going on in Konoha, which meant that she, a new face, could be a performer from there. Miyuki was exactly this, so it’s not like she was lying. Feeling all the more grateful for running into the Crystal Lotus the time she did, she knew this would be her way out. Clenching her fists, Miyuki plastered a nervous smile onto her face, slowly trailing her gaze upwards to initiate eye contact once again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she did so, she realized the man had actually taken a step away from the light and into the shadows, being relatively a lot closer right now. What exactly was he trying to do? Upon finally staring him in the eyes, the smile on her face disappeared. Even though she had a completely valid excuse, all she could remember was the fright she had experienced in the bookstore. The man didn’t possess the sharingan anymore, but that didn’t make his gaze any less intimidating. While he wasn’t making any sudden movements, that didn’t hide the intensity of his stare. What she failed to notice was that he hadn’t made any hostile movements at all, and rather, his hands were still snuggly fit inside his pockets. That didn’t cross her mind as questions flooded her mind. Did he know the true reason she was here? Why did he look like he could devour her? Was it maybe the lighting making it worse? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shaking her head, Miyuki returned his gaze with a glare of her own, realizing she didn’t have time to think. She had to act. Slowly raising her left hand out from underneath her cloak, Miyuki let out a breath, as if motioning for him to stop. For a brief moment, Kakashi blinked with confusion, cocking his head to the side as he raised a brow. The woman didn’t let this moment go to waste, as with that same hand she ripped her cloak off, all while letting out a piercingly loud and shrill shriek, “Kyaaa!! A stalker!! Help me!!” Despite her explosive outburst, the same determined glare remained plastered on her face. She was determined to flee. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Since it was still early in the morning, any fear-striking outcry like this was bound to grab the attention of those wandering about, even if they were locked in a dark alleyway. The two streets connecting the passageway had curious onlookers, who, upon hearing this outcry, were fully engrossed in figuring out what was going on, peering in and making out the two figures in the center. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After having caught the attention of the nearby villagers, Kakashi turned around to face them with the realization he was being mislabeled as a malicious stalker cornering a poor defenseless girl. Being extremely caught off guard by the sudden attention and undesirable title, he frantically raised his hands in an attempt to clear things up, before realizing he should just tackle the root of the misunderstanding. Turning back around in complete and utter confusion as to why the woman had suddenly done any of this, his eyes widened upon realizing her face was only inches away from his own. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>She’s fast!</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ The man grasped, instinctively leaning back to force as much distance between them as possible. But, in addition to her general speed, Miyuki also seemed to have rather fast reflexes. In an instant, Kakashi’s entire field of view obstructed, as the woman had thrown and plastered her cloak over his entire upper body, restricting any possible quick movements from his arms for the time being. As he attempted to throw the cloak off, he felt two hands plant onto his shoulders, along with an additional weight that forced these hands to dig into each of his shoulders. The woman was executing a forward flip, using him as her stable pivot. All the while, the most prominent of factors catching his attention was the slightly jingling in the air. The same muffled ringing he had heard in the bookstore. The jingling of bells. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However, he wasn’t given much time to live in the moment, as in his attempted struggle, the man then felt  a sharp kick to his backside, followed by the alleviation of the woman’s weight he had been shouldering. Luckily, despite the surprising amount of force that went into the attack, Kakashi caught himself, steadying himself upright as he pulled the cloak off of his face. As the sound of shoes hitting the concrete walls above him rapidly quieted, the man was now left staring upwards after where he presumed the woman had fled. While his desire to chase her dropped significantly, the numerous budding questions flourished. Sighing, he glanced down at the cloak in his hands, turning back and realizing the crowds of onlookers had dissipated. Wearing an exhausted expression, Kakashi pulled the sparsely filled wallet out of his own weapons pouch. What in the world just happened? He was just trying to return the wallet she dropped on the ground at the bookstore.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Was thinking I could try posting twice this week since I had the time! I say that but I also love procrastinating so do I really have time or am I just really lazy and don't want to work-</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 8: Popping Up Onto Their Radars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Miyuki finally arrived at the performance venue, she was completely spent. Having a completely flushed face, she dramatically heaved on the spot, taking deep breaths in and out and trying to get it to stop. Was she out of shape? Who knew running around in circles across Konoha would be this tiring? Part of the reason she was running around was because she got lost and realized she had absolutely no idea where to go, but mostly she was just focused on shaking Kakashi off her trail. Which, she was successful in! She had checked behind her back every inconvenient twist and turn she made, running into a few poles as a result. However, she was absolutely sure this time she had lost him. Sure, she was basically an hour late now but there was definitely no way he could find her. So no matter what happens, she was going to take this part of her day as an absolute win. She was now safe for the rest of her life. Taking a moment to finally let out a deep breath, Miyuki composed herself, finally feeling relaxed as she placed her hands on her hips and stared down at the ground. Though, honestly speaking, now that she was here, she had no idea what to do. Yes, the troupe members were here and still quite hungover, but she couldn’t just go up to them and talk to them could she? Do people do that around here? Miyuki wasn’t sure but honestly didn't want to. But would that be rude? It was great they didn’t notice how late she was but she wasn’t sure how to proceed now. Instead, she chose to focus on her throbbing forehead, knowing without need to look that it was probably extremely red from her having slammed her forehead into so many blunt surfaces. At least her bangs were long enough to cover up the mark-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tamaki!” Perking up at a familiar voice, Miyuki quickly turned around to face the approaching blonde. It Miyuki thought she looked bad after running at full speed for so long, she clearly had not taken into account Kina. Kina, who, after running for an unknown distance, seemed absolutely destroyed. After the blonde had stopped in front of her, iit seemed like she was on the verge of collapse, stopping to pant heavily. Yet, as she did so, she quickly flashed upwards a worried expression back at Miyuki, verbally expressing her concerns, “Did...something happen? Why are...you so out of breath?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taking a moment to eye the blonde as she watched her, Miyuki couldn’t help but think to herself, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>If anyone is out of breath right now, it’s not me</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It seems like you’re a little more out of breath, Kina,” she then smiled as she placed a hand on her shoulder, “Are you okay?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine! I was just worried about you because you were late and was worried you had gotten lost or something! I felt bad too since I sent you on that errand in the first place.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh yeah, speaking of-” Miyuki reached back to grab for the book in her pouch before being cut off. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It looked like you were running away from something though, is everything okay? You kept checking over your shoulder...Did something happen?” Feeling a little overwhelmed from all of the questioning and being put on the spot over a situation she had wanted to forget, Miyuki felt her eye twitch as she reflected back on her encounter with one of the most dangerous people alive. Feeling a sour taste in her mouth, Miyuki stuttered, “Oh...uh...I was being chased by a...” The woman trailed off. Into her head popped in the image of the copy ninja who had lost his ability to copy. She probably couldn’t be completely honest, could she? Even if she knew Kina a little better than she knew the others, she still couldn't be 100% honest with her about everything. But, what could she say then? She was being chased by an old man? The woman wasn’t sure how much she liked that excuse. Then again being chased by a child wasn’t any less demeaning. Though being chased by an adult meant she would have to describe Kakashi, which she knew she couldn’t do because she was terrible at lying when put on the spot. Kina, having taken notice of this very awkward silence between them long ago, slowly peered up at the woman lost in thought, wondering what in the world she was thinking about. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is...Is everything okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah...I just...I got chased by a...a really big dog,” Miyuki stammered, wincing as she heard her own words. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A dog?” Kina blinked, cocking her head to the side a little, “Is that why you don’t have your cloak on you?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-Yep! It...was really grey...and big...and kept looking at me funny...and I think he was really into smut too-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The dog could read??” Kina exclaimed, clapping her hands together, “That’s amazing! Konoha really has some neat people!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re missing the point!” Miyuki cried as she shook her hands up and down in exasperation, “He kept following me around!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But...all dogs are cute? Or so I thought at least…” Kina trailed off, surprised at Miyuki’s little ongoing outburst. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That is true </span>
  <em>
    <span>most</span>
  </em>
  <span> dogs are cute, but this one was terrifying! It took forever for me to lose him! In the end I kinda just chucked my cloak at him and took off...Either way, I’m just...I’m just glad I lost him.” Letting out a sigh, Miyuki rubbed at the probably glowing red spot on her forehead, thinking to herself, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Though at a cost</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ Taking a few seconds to really process what the ponytail woman’s story, Kina couldn’t stifle a chuckle, eventually bursting out into full on laughter, “You really cute, you know that?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wh- Because I got chased by a dog?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep!” Kina beamed, “But I mean, he must have liked you if he chased you around this whole time! You are an hour late, after all!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah-” Miyuki cut off, embarrassed for being late but desperate to tell her how wrong she was, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>It was actually the exact opposite, I’m pretty sure he was trying to kill me</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ Shivering upon remembering the look of bloodlust she felt in the bookstore, as well as his nonchalant aloof eyes in the dark alleyway, she knew there was only bad news if she were to ever meet him again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anyway, I never knew you had such a cute side with animals!” Kina teased as she clapped her hands together. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re just making fun of me at this point aren’t you?” Miyuki pouted, before taking a moment to realize she had actually opened up to the blonde quite a bit. For one, she was actually talking with someone, which she hadn’t expected to do at all here. Second of all, she felt...so comfortable around her. Maybe carrying up their drunk group mates together and recoiling as they vomited everywhere really did some good in bringing people together. Unknowingly feeling a smile come onto her face, Miyuki couldn’t help but feel a little relieved to be around someone for the first time in Konoha. Even if it was to someone she had met just a day ago. Having caught that little smile on her face, Kina herself couldn’t help but feel rather elated as well. However, their little moment was cut short, as a roaring cry cut through the muffled chatter surrounding them, halting all conversations in an instant, “Tamaki! Could you come over here for a second??” Glancing over at the direction of the voice, Miyuki froze on the spot. There standing at the entrance of the venue were Tatsuya, the ringleader, and of course-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Kakashi</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ She silently screamed at herself, wearing a smile and look of bewilderment on her face as she felt a drop of sweat roll down her face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“W-What is it?” Miyuki feigned innocence as she called back, cocking her head to the side as she let out a nervous laugh. She could feel all eyes on her, and absolutely hated it. Still, she kept her gaze focused on the bellowing ringleader, trying to ignore the fuming Tatsuya, oozing a lot of murderous intent that she could feel from her position so far away.  If she thought Kakashi was bad, she clearly hadn’t experienced Tatsuya’s rage yet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just. Come. Here,” Tatsuya’s face morphed into a smile, though it was plenty obvious he was boiling inside. Letting out a sigh, Miyuki knew this was it for her. Before she could take off, she felt a hand grab onto her arm and almost yank her back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is everything okay?” Kina worriedly asked, clearly not willing to let her go otherwise. Feeling touched by the gesture, Miyuki plastered a smile onto her face, as she tried to say in her most reassuring voice, “Probably!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Probably not</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ Miyuki silently sobbed, feeling Kina’s grip hesitantly loosen around her arm. Giving the blonde one last nod, she quickly made her way over to the trio, listening as the chatter around her from the troupe members soon began to progressively amplify. With every step, the woman could only picture every possible worst outcome. How in the world did he find her in the first place? There was absolutely no way he would've followed her around. She had made sure of it this time. So fast too. About ten minutes after Miyuki had arrived at the venue was when he had turned up. Knowing how big Konoha was and the distance from that alleyway to the venue only made this feat more impressive. He really was terrifying all right. Though perhaps not as scary as the fuming Tatsuya standing next to him and glaring Miyuki down. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Worst case scenario is that she gets thrown out of Konoha. But, that’s only if Kakashi was suspicious of her in the first place. Though that seems to be the only reason he would be here. Why else would he show up? He wasn’t a performer, was he? Her vision centered on the trio, namely the Konoha ninja. The man had carefully folded up her cloak at least and was nice enough not to have thrown it away. Maybe he was here to return it? Yeah right, after she called him a stalker and used him as a platform to jump off of? He had also wanted to kill her in the bookstore earlier so she didn’t have much of a chance of staying in Konoha. Should she just run? Run and hide somewhere in the village? After arriving in front of them, Miyuki quickly presented a bow to the ringleader and Tatsuya, and then hesitantly to Kakashi as a form of greeting, praying that being polite could potentially alleviate some of the heat that was about to come. It didn’t. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite wearing a smile on his face, the ringleader’s eye was twitching as he proceeded to slowly articulate his next few words, as if he were questioning a guilty five year old, “Tamaki, did you happen to run into the Lord Sixth while you were just out?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blinking, Miyuki cocked her head to the side, ’</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sixth hokage? I never ran into him</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seeing how she hadn’t registered the severity of her crime just yet, Tatsuya chimed in with an equally annoyed expression, “Apparently you ran into the kind-hearted Lord Sixth and </span>
  <em>
    <span>offended</span>
  </em>
  <span> him.” As angry as they were, she really didn’t understand, glancing between the two while feeling peak confusion. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>The most I did today was...run into Hatake Kakashi. While yes, I did offend him , I don’t think I ever ran into the Sixth Hokage? Was he that person on the street that laughed at me when I walked into the pole? He was so loud about it too. If anyone should be offended by that, it should be me- </span>
  </em>
  <span>’ As she reflected back on the events that had taken place in the past hour, clearly taking a while, her gaze trailed up slowly to lock with the Hokage, and then straight behind him. At that moment she saw it. Right behind the man was the Hokage rock, a mountain looming over the village with the faces of all of the current and past hokage chiseled onto it. As if they had been comedically placed side by side for this exact moment, Miyuki finally understood what was going on. Real life Hatake Kakashi’s face matched the Hokage rock Kakashi just behind him. They were twins. He was the sixth hokage. He was Lord Sixth. Miyuki just jumped the most influential man in the leaf village and even had described him as a mean dog right after. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Feeling the shock of realization pulse through her was terribly overwhelming. Coming terms with this newfound knowledge, she began sweating bullets as she slowly opened her mouth in surprise. Bringing up a trembling hand to point at him, Miyuki felt her lower lip quiver as she realized how much worse her situation had gotten within a span of a few seconds. It was ironic, as the Hokage’s rather nonchalant expression showed that he wasn’t too bothered by what was happening, letting out a nervous chuckle upon seeing her facial expression. Boy was she an open book. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry!” she cried as she quickly dropped her head, bowing at a perfect 90 degree angle in an attempt to show how deeply sorry she was for having committed so many offenses against him within a span of five minutes. Miyuki squeezed her eyes shut as she held her rigid arms close by her side, praying to herself, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Please don’t throw me out, please don’t throw me out!</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Seeing her gesture and realizing she was out-apologizing them, the ringleader and Tatsuya both fell to their knees, practically throwing themselves at his feet, shrieking an entire flurry of apologies as well. Upon hearing the loud commotion, the surrounding chatter died down once again, as the watching troupe members began to close in attempts to figure out what was happening.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that Lord Sixth?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think so.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do we have to bow like this every time we see him?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think so.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And so, that was how Kakashi ended up being as a flustered mess as he was now the center of attention, trying so desperately to get these rows of people bowing in front of him to lift their heads. It didn’t help that the many onlookers arriving onto the scene had noticed the commotion as well deciding it would be better to join the crowd and pay respects to the Hokage. Others watched from afar in absolute confusion. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There really is no need to bow on your knees like this, a simple greeting is more than enough,” Kakashi quickly explained after clearing his throat, feeling a flush come onto his face at how quickly out of hand this situation had gotten. Watching the crowd in front of him quickly dissipate, he let out a sigh of relief, content that he was no longer a part of that. As Miyuki slowly lifted her head, nervously glancing to the side as she did so, Kakashi extended his arm to hand out her neatly folded cloak, as well as her wallet laying proudly on top of it, calmly clearing up the misunderstanding, “You just happened to drop these, so I just dropped by to return them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My wallet...” Miyuki whispered to herself as she quickly shoved her hand into her weapons pouch, realizing it wasn’t there. Glancing behind her and then back at the man, it was clear she hadn’t even noticed that when she tried to toss her wallet into her pouch, she had actually ended up chucking it onto the floor by accident. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You dropped it at the bookstore when you were checking out the book.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh...” Miyuki blinked, realizing that maybe potentially she had made a tiny mistake is mislabelling the Hokage’s intentions and actions. Feeling her face burn up as a result, she once again lowered her head, apologetically accepting both the cloak and the wallet back, and ensuring the latter actually made its way into her weapons pouch this time. But knowing that he had her wallet solved a few burning questions for her. Her performer’s ticket was in there, so obviously he would turn up at the performance venue sooner or later. So all that extra sprinting around Konoha was all in vain as well. But it was also no wonder why he hadn’t put up much of a fight. And then she went and kicked him too. What a way to meet someone. Feeling a wave of embarrassment rush through her, she knew this had to be in her top ten list of memories to repress. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Again...I’m...really sorry,” Miyuki muttered as she raised her head, hugging the neatly folded cloak against her stomach. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about it,” The Hokage replied with a lighthearted look, “I was just returning what you dropped. It’s not like it was a challenging thing to do.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>It was definitely challenging</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ Miyuki thought to herself as she stared downwards, deciding to never make eye contact with him ever again. Before she could do much else, the ringleader and Tatsuya decided to butt in, apologizing for their performer’s rudeness, as they snuck glares back at her when it was appropriate. Kakashi reassured them both with a chuckle that she wasn’t rude at all and that he was looking forward to the performances tonight. Trying to ground herself, Miyuki stared down at the cloak in her hands. As long as she wasn’t on the Hokage’s radar, then things were okay. Thanks to him, Tatsuya and the ringleader didn't seem as keen to kick her out now as they had been only a few minutes prior. Letting out another sigh, she knew she had let herself get much too carried away here and that it was time to buckle down and really get to work. Even if she wasn’t on the Hokage’s radar before, that didn’t mean she wasn’t on it now. There was a high chance he could be wary of her. She couldn’t forget that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the other hand, Kakashi himself was assessing the rather intense events that had taken place today. He didn’t know why, but for some reason, she seemed...familiar. This in itself was quite odd, as he was sure he had never seen her before in his life. While she did seem a little inept at handling social situations, what piqued his interest was her rapid reflexes and speed. He also hadn’t met many performers who excelled at leaping onto walls through the use of precise chakra control. But that wasn’t all. Why exactly was she wearing a cloak in the first place? No one else in their troupe was even holding the same piece of attire. Flashing a quick glance over at her and past the two men in front of him, Kakashi caught a glimpse of the woman biting at her lip as she stared down at the cloak in her hands, clearly deep in thought. Given that he didn't know much else, the most he could do was make a mental note to keep an eye on her.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 9: The Making Of A Friend?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She had watched her perform the dance over and over again. But no matter how many times she saw it, she never grew tired of it. The powdery white snowflakes in the air always gently swirled around the beautiful and carefree woman twirling around in the center, floating about as if they had a mind of their own. The woman’s eyes were closed as the corners of her pink lips curled upwards ever so slightly. As the pure white snow decorated her short fluttering brown hair, the two bells tying her hair up jingled in harmony. Given the gentle movements she glided through, one could only assume just how tranquil the music was. However, the woman wasn’t dancing to any set music, no, she herself was in charge of that. Her bare feet tapped and slid across the cold ice with their own set rhythm, determined to shake off the freezing chills and dance to their heart’s content. </p><p>The young girl watching from the sidelines was always sure that no matter who saw this dance, within a matter of seconds, they would soon be entranced by the captivating movements and the soft snow. What excited her even more was how despite the icy cool demeanor of the woman, her hot fiery passion for this dance shone through as plain as day. The child let out a little squeal as she watched a snowflake land in her tiny cupped hands, admiring the unique design for a quick second before watching it melt into a crystal blue droplet of water. </p><p>Like many other children, this young girl had many dreams. To excel in her studies, to get stronger, and to even be a princess. But underneath all of these was her one desire to be just like this woman. To be compassionate enough to never need a reason to lend a helping hand to anyone in need. To make decisions with an unwavering confidence, that which can immediately relieve everyone nearby. To always give people bites of their hamburger steak when they stare at it long enough. Because, to this young child, this was what true beauty was. The woman before her was the perfect embodiment of everything this young girl wanted to be. As her eyes glimmered with admiration, the woman’s soft movements gently came to a stop. The snow that had been synchronously moving with the woman came to a halt as well, now taking the time to gently flutter back to their place on the ground. The young girl couldn’t help but feel disappointment every time this moment came, but was reassured that one day she would definitely see it again. This wish had always come true, after all.</p><p>“Miyuki, you’ll really catch a cold like that!” the woman scolded as her eyes fluttered open, blinking as to get the snowflakes off of her lashes. She then marched over to the shivering young child, then picking her up, and brushing off the snow that had accumulated on top of her head. The little girl giggled in her arms as she held her tiny red hands up to her face to try to warm them with her breath. </p><p>“You could catch a cold too!” she protested as she held up a hand to pat the woman’s head. </p><p>“You don’t need to worry about me, sweetie,” the woman smiled as she planted a small kiss on Miyuki's cheek, “After all, I love being outside when it’s cold. You on the other hand...we’ve seen how easily you can get sick when you’re out for too long!”</p><p>“But the snow was really pretty today!” Miyuki cheered as she threw her arms up into the air, waving them about as if she were trying to mimic the woman’s movements, “Do you think I can dance like that one day?”</p><p>“I really do!” The woman cheered, answering immediately to show she held no doubt in her mind, “After all, you’re already this cute. Who wouldn’t want to watch a dance by the cutest little girl in the world?” Now brimming with determination, the young child knew she couldn’t fail. After all, if this woman believed in her, then she was truly unstoppable. With her tiny hands, she quickly then tried making it into the ram hand sign.</p><p>“I’ll work hard to learn these hand signs and then we can dance together!” She squeaked as she stared intently down at her little hand display. Taking a moment to glance down at her, the woman’s expression softened as she bit her lip. Now realizing that her vision was blurring up, the woman threw on a smile with a sniffle, as she shook her head in an attempt to get herself together. </p><p>“I’ll be looking forward to it,” the woman giggled, “Now let’s get us both back inside. Dad’s waiting for us!” </p><p>Miyuki sighed to herself as she reflected back on her memories, realizing immediately afterwards she shouldn’t be thinking about them in the first place. Despite the fact that the sun was now high up in the sky, shining ever so brightly, she couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down her spine. While she didn't reflect back onto the past much these days, it was always surprising that at some point in time, she genuinely loved the cold. Powdery snow didn’t seem as gentle and fun as it used to. Instead, everytime she envisioned the cold, all she could really imagine was the icy sharpness and immediate fearful flinching that came from even coming near the element. Rubbing at her bare arms in an attempt to warm herself up, Miyuki set her neatly folded cloak aside, realizing that wearing that thing all the time would probably draw more attention to her than mask her in a crowd such as this one. Or at least, that’s what she tells herself. Truthfully, she couldn’t be more embarrassed from those multiple run-ins with Lord Sixth. </p><p>After the man left the performance venue, Miyuki received a long and tiresome lecture from both the ringleader and the fuming Tatsuya. Luckily, their desire to have her in the show just barely outweighed their annoyance that she had potentially desecrated the image of their troupe. As Tatsuya so bluntly and dramatically stated, he was too upset to be around her anymore, and thus left with a huff to converse with the other members, who were practicing for their acts to perform. On the other hand, the ringleader had stayed behind, after having slightly calmed down enough to realize he couldn’t burn this bridge with the woman just yet. He still needed to finalize what kind of performance Miyuki would be putting on for them. </p><p>Feeling rather offset that he hadn’t asked her for this sooner, the woman then began explaining how her act consisted of essentially what she had previously had shown him, but with a dance incorporated. Additionally, she would definitely be needing lots of water, which she was instructed to find. The man listened with glistening eyes, reflecting back on what he had seen in the tiny village. It didn’t matter what the heck she was going to do to him. As long as she performed that little trick she did back then, he couldn’t be happier. So what if she needed 10 boxes of water to set up this little magic act? He would bring the entire ocean in for her if he could. After all, it wasn’t everyday he had laid eyes on a performance trick like that. He really wondered how she got the water to dance around the way she did, but clearly wasn’t interested enough to ask. Either way, after finally levelling with one another and ensuring they were on the same page about this, the ringleader then jogged off to converse with the other troupe members, now seemingly in a good mood. </p><p>“Here are the boxes Boss told me to get you,” an approaching troupe member called out as he neared the woman, who sat deep in thought, setting down the stack of boxes in front of her with a thud. </p><p>“Ah, thank you so much,” Miyuki replied with a quick bow before getting up from her spot on the ground, groaning as she then whispered to herself, “...Time to get to work.” With a quick nod and a little wave, the troupe member ran off, leaving the woman alone to tackle her daunting task. Sparing a brief glance down at the boxes, Miyuki’s gaze then shifted around the surrounding area around her as she gathered her thoughts. Before the chatter and clunking of props and wooden boxes began to overtake the morning idleness, the woman remembered hearing the sound of rushing water nearby. So, it was probably safe to assume there was a river somewhere up ahead. All she really needed to do was fill up these boxes with water and to place them behind the stage which was...so far away from the river. There were ten boxes too, which didn’t help her case. How in the world was she going to do this without wanting to go home and quit? It’s not like she could take them two at a time either. She wasn’t in the mood to break her arms today. Taking a moment to scan the faces around her, Miyuki considered calling back the troupe member as he seemed very capable, but upon seeing him going through with his own preparations, Miyuki figured it would be best not to bother him. </p><p>“Might as well just get started…” Miyuki sighed as she picked up the stack of boxes to bring to the river. Shifting her arms underneath their weight, she knew she wasn’t going to have a good time doing this. Not only were they very uncomfortable to feel against her bare skin, she couldn’t help but grimace upon brushing some questionably wet areas. What in the world were these boxes used for? </p><p>“I can help with that!” </p><p>Jumping at the cheery cry, Miyuki scrambled to readjust her position to keep the stack of boxes from falling out of her grasp. After letting out a sigh of relief, she then turned around to face Kina. Except, it took her a hot minute to figure out it was the familiar blonde. As opposed to her usual non-decorated face and neat bun, Kina was now completely dolled up in makeup, having also let her hair down. Miyuki stared in awe at the woman before her, blinking as she realized how different people could look with make-up on. As interesting as it was it almost frightened her. </p><p>“T-Thanks for the offer but...would it really be okay for you to help me out? I’m sure you have your own preparations to worry about.” </p><p>“Of course I can! I’ve already gone through my act five times and all I really need to do is put on my robe! Besides, I'm not even performing today, so all I really need to do is greet the crowd onstage as Boss introduces all of us,” Kina quickly explained, clearly in a rush as she kept waving her arms about as she did so, “Plus...uh…well...” The blonde then trailed off, flashing a few glances behind her at the glaring Tatsuya who stood with his arms folded a few feet away.</p><p>‘<em> He wanted someone to watch me, </em>’ Miyuki pieced together as her unamused gaze shifted between the two. </p><p>“I would love help,” Miyuki plastered on a smile as she extended out the stack of boxes in front of her for the woman to take. As the two fumbled for a bit, with Kina trying to not get hit by the tower of wood and pulling a face upon finally grabbing a few boxes for herself to take, they then made their way over to the distant river. </p><p>“So…” Kina began, clearly trying to fill in the awkward silence and take their minds off of wondering why these boxes were so wet, “I’m guessing that dog you mentioned before...was actually the Sixth Hokage?” She held a playful smile as she inquired about this, clearly wanting to be in on the gossip. Realizing she had been caught with a bold-faced lie, Miyuki jumped at the question, almost launching the boxes straight onto a passerby’s face and her baby. After composing herself, the woman cleared her throat as she stammered, quickly trying to throw a reply together, “Y-Yeah...W-What do you know? Turns out the dog I ran into could transform into a human...and...was the Sixth Hokage...What a surprise!” Filling in the silence after with a laugh, Miyuki sighed as she glanced over at Kina’s face. She clearly didn’t buy it. </p><p>“Y-yeah...I ran into him at the bookstore and he followed me out and it freaked me out so...I tried to lose him...Sorry for lying like that,” Miyuki conceded, staring down at the boxes in her arms, “Do you want your book, by the way? I managed to get the last copy.” </p><p>“I can grab that from you anytime! You probably deserve to read it first since you bought it though,” Kina smiled. </p><p>‘<em> I don’t want to read it </em>,’ Miyuki silently complained as she flashed a glance behind herself to catch a glimpse of her weapons pouch. </p><p>“Besides, it sounds like you really had a tough time,” the blonde continued, “Especially if you had to go through with creating such strange lies to save your dignity, right?” Unsure how to take the back-handed sympathy, Miyuki silently pouted to herself as she thought, ‘<em> The lie wasn’t that bad. There’s a lot worse. I could have said he was a...purple dog </em>.’ </p><p>“Are you upset?” Kina leaned in, clearly knowing the answer to that question. </p><p>“No,” Miyuki lied as she looked away, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of knowing she was absolutely right about everything. The blonde burst out into laughter upon seeing her reaction, leaning back as she apologized, “Sorry for putting it like that. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I just thought it was cute!” </p><p>“Again, what part of this is cute?” Miyuki inquired, feeling less attacked now. </p><p>“How shy you got from all of this!” Kina teased, “You’re like an open book!” </p><p>‘<em> I didn’t know it was call-out Miyuki day today, </em>’ the woman silently groaned. After the blonde’s giggles at her expense finally subsided, Kina let out, “Sorry for all of that. It must’ve really been scary though, right? Having someone you didn’t know follow you around like that. Anyone would have made that mistake.” Blinking as she looked over, Miyuki realized Kina’s demeanor had completely shifted. Within an instant she had shifted into a calmer and more tranquil expression, showing nothing but genuine sympathy this time. </p><p>“Yeah...it definitely wasn’t what I expected while buying smut at the bookstore,” Miyuki nervously chuckled, “Though...Lord Sixth wasn’t exactly a stranger…”</p><p>“Well, I mean everyone knows about Lord Kakashi of the Sharingan! Even us folk from our farms know of him. My parents gush about how strong and scary he is sometimes!” Feeling a little more relaxed around the woman, Miyuki took a moment to feel relief over the comfort Kina was trying to give. Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all. </p><p>“Though...speaking of farms...” Kina trailed off, drooping her shoulders as she let out a sigh, completely saddened by her thoughts now. </p><p>“Is something wrong?” Miyuki inquired, a little thrown off upon seeing her sad for the first time. While she had only known her for a day, the whole time she was always quite the upbeat person. </p><p>“Oh! Um...not it’s nothing...just, thank you for this.”</p><p>“Thank you for what?” Miyuki cocked her head to the side, unsure of what was happening. </p><p>“You know...just hanging out and talking with me like this. I haven’t had this much fun since before I joined the troupe,” Kina sadly replied as she wore a small smile on her face. </p><p>“Why...why is that?”</p><p>“Oh...well…” Kina thought to herself before deciding she was willing to share, “I mentioned us troupe members came from small farms, right? It turns out most of the members all came from around the same area and knew each other really well before joining the troupe...and even the new people who joined just naturally clicked with them...And well...” The blonde explained as her gaze trailed over to the huddled troupe members. Miyuki turned her head to follow it, realizing where she was going with this. Seeing how gung-ho they all were together without the blonde pretty much said everything. </p><p>Now that she thought about it, it was no wonder why had Kina gone out of her way so much to talk with her, some stranger who wore some big shady cloak around everyday? On their walk to Konoha, and even when the troupe members went to grab drinks together yesterday night, they never seemed to pay much attention to Kina. Miyuki had figured it was because she herself was there, but now knew that probably wasn’t the only reason. No wonder Kina had tried to befriend her so quickly. She didn't want to be alone anymore. </p><p>Shifting her weight so that only one hand was now carrying the five boxes, Miyuki extended her hand out to give a good hearty pat on the back. Well, she meant for a pat, but ended up putting a bit too much force into it, so much so that it came out as a slap. Kina immediately whipped her head over to glance at Miyuki with downright confusion, watching the pony-tail wearing woman confidently walk on. </p><p>“I think you’re fun,” Miyuki called out, raising her voice slightly to ensure the blonde heard her. The expression on her face made it obvious she was frazzled from having accidentally slapped the woman, but decided to act as if she had planned for that and continue walking anyway. Feeling her eyes widen, Kina felt the corners of her lips curl up into a smile, now starting to feel warm and fuzzy all over. After a brief pause, she then quickly jogged over to catch up with her new friend, smiling back, “I think you’re great too.” </p><p>The two then walked in silence over the river, feeling all the more relaxed knowing that they’ve reached a new level of understanding with one another. As they finally reached the river, the two got to work with filling them up, realizing how hard of a task this actually was after both having tons of close calls of almost falling in. But, while it took longer than expected, the two eventually completed the daunting task. The sun was now setting in the sky, as the bright blues dotted with white puffy clouds slowly morphed into oranges, reds, and yellows. All the while, tucked away at the back of her mind, was Miyuki reassuring herself, ‘<em> I only did that because she was sad, not because I wanted to make a friend. You know you’re in no position to make friends right now. </em>’ While this reminder wasn’t anything new, the feeling that came with it definitely was. Frustration. Frustration for the first time over the complicated situation she happened to be in and how she couldn’t even enjoy a simple moment like this. This disappointment was definitely something Miyuki needed to get rid of.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Wow, okay! Here we are at chapter 10 finally, woo (Well technically chapter 9 but we'll look past that for now)! First of all, thank you to everyone reading! Thank you for the 14 kudos, and 292 hits! I'm still in shock over these numbers :) I know the story is a little slow-paced, but thank you for sticking around! I'd love to hear your thoughts since we've reached the 10th chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 10: The Jingling of Bells</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“I never got a good look at you before but, your skin is a lot drier and rougher than I thought it would be…You have really prominent eye-bags too, bad night’s sleep?” Kesho, the makeup artist, commented as she continued to dust the seated woman’s face with an odd looking brush. Before her stood the energetic lady, who had within seconds displayed a variety of small bottles and containers, all having some sort of pastes or oils within. Right after she had gotten to work on her canvas, Miyuki’s face, which much to the latter’s dismay, was taking so much longer than she had originally anticipated. The woman didn’t know how much time had passed since make-up time started. But sitting still in one spot while trying to awkwardly avoid making eye-contact with someone spouting a load of judgement was not as fun as some might think. As Kesho continued to point out countless more facial features Miyuki was unsure of whether they were good or bad, she simply closed her eyes, feeling her face tingle and uncomfortably react whenever a new brush or fingers made contact. After the seated woman was absolutely sure she aged at least 15 years, Kesho finally took a step back, wiping some sweat from her brow as she admired her almost finished masterpiece. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think we’re all good here, though you were cringing and wincing quite a bit the whole time! Are you not used to make-up?” Kesho commented as she turned her back to the seated woman, quickly rescuing all of the lids onto her containers and bottles. Thinking Kesho was quite perceptive, Miyuki opened her eyes, scrunching up her face upon realizing how heavy and restricting a coat of make-up could feel on someone. However, that wasn’t exactly the main problem here. She couldn’t come off as suspicious right now.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“N-No...I just haven’t had any put on in a while,” Miyuki stammered, remembering back on her fake backstory of being an unemployed dancer, “It’s...been a </span>
  <em>
    <span>long</span>
  </em>
  <span>...and </span>
  <em>
    <span>hard</span>
  </em>
  <span> past couple of years…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kesho sympathized, half paying attention to her story while also focusing on her next task, pulling a long blue haired wig and clip out of a nearby box. Turning back around, the lady walked over to the seated woman, holding up the blue wig next to her head in an attempt to assess how well everything paired together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmmm…” Kesho let out, as she set the wig down onto a nearby table, putting her hand up to her chin. Blinking in confusion, Miyuki wondered, “Is...everything okay?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah! I was just wondering what to do with your hair.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What to do with it?” The woman asked as she took a moment to glance down at her long hair, thinking to herself, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>What is there really to do with it?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, since your theme is blue, we had this blue wig prepared for emergencies just in case our original dancer, who already has beautiful blue hair couldn’t make it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>What kind of an emergency is that??</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now I’m just deciding how to style your hair. And where to put the signature blue lotus clip. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but where we place this matters a great deal because we want it to stand out and be the main attraction while on the dancer. So wherever we put it will definitely matter.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>I...definitely did not notice that at all</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ Miyuki silently sobbed as she nodded along, agreeing with Kesho in her explanation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Either way, I’ll just get the wig on you first before I decide what to do with it,” Kesho decided, grabbing a hairbrush and making her way behind Miyuki, now inspecting her ponytail, pausing as she did so, “By the way, these two bells are holding up your hair...would you mind if I removed them?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Miyuki jumped, impulsively whipping her head back in an attempt to try and take a peek at them, having completely forgotten they were in the first place. Pausing for a brief moment, Miyuki let out a heavy sigh, glancing down at her hands before glancing back up at Kesho, “Actually...if it’s okay, would it be possible to tie them up...to the wig? I’d...like to keep them on me at all times.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm...actually you bring up a good idea,” Kesho nodded as she furrowed her brow, “Here, why don’t I tie them up into a bun for you? I think that would add to your soon-to-be mystifying presence on stage!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>My what on stage-</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Miyuki questioned, before softening her face with a smile, expressing her relief with a thank-you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course! I am a professional after all, so I can make anything work!” Kesho pridefully pounded on her chest before aggressively yanking and pulling Miyuki’s hair around.  This had taken up quite a portion of time as well, and by the end, Miyuki couldn’t even feel her head or her bottom anymore. She wasn’t aware of how make-up artists in general worked, but was it supposed to hurt this much? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, after being handed a mirror, Miyuki almost couldn’t believe her eyes. She almost had no idea who the heck was staring back at her in the mirror, having a heart attack upon flashing a first glance. Was she happy with it? Sure? The woman honestly wasn’t sure what to think or feel. Seeing this reminded her of how surprised she had been after seeing Kina dolled up in make-up. But, Kesho had successfully incorporated the bells into the blue-haired wig, just as she had said she would. Trying to catch a glimpse of them, Miyuki shifted herself and the mirror around, trying to catch the  best angle. In doing so, she had managed to catch sight of all of the other ribbons and ornaments in her wig, wondering if Kesho had actually overdone it with the decorating. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You like what you see?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yes, thank you for all of your hard work,” Miyuki politely bowed, listening to the jingling of the bells as she did so. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now all that’s left is to get you into Setsuna’s robe.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Setsuna?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, my bad sorry, she’s our original blue lotus.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see,” Miyuki nodded along, feeling anxiety slowly grow within her with every glance she took at the bells back in her hair. Kesho, aftering having pulled out said robe, noticed the seated woman’s fidgety behaviour, thereafter plastering on a reassuring smile as she then spoke, “Don’t worry! I’m sure her robe will fit you perfectly. You two seem to have similar figures after all.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“T-That’s great,” Miyuki blinked, unsure of where this was coming from. The size of the robe hadn’t even crossed her mind until now. Motioning for her to finally stand up, Kesho then held out the robe in front of her, assessing whether her statement held true or not, squinting at both the robe and Miyuki. With a final node, she helped Miyuki put it on, seemingly relieved as the proportions were quite well matched. However, right when Kesho had tried to pull the robe over Miyuki’s chest, she immediately furrowed her brows upon realizing how much of a struggle it was. Watching her wrestle with the robe, Miyuki felt her face grow hot as she stared downwards, and then at Kesho’s face. Seems like not all of their proportions were the exact same. After what seemed like forever, Kesho’s grip on the collar finally loosened, as she then dramatically fell back onto a chair, placing her hand onto her forehead with a disheveled sigh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could...try making them smaller?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How would you do that?” Kesho immediately snapped, whipping her head up to glare back at her for making a suggestion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I don’t know, I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me,” Muyki pleaded as she took a step back in fear. A few minutes passed, as the two silently stayed in place, trying to ignore the drafts blowing into the make-up tent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So much for trying to keep up a modest image…” Kesho sighed, before scanning Miyuki up and down once more, “Wait, actually...what you have going on right now is perfect! That black sleeveless turtleneck you have on, while I thought it was tacky before, fits perfectly! You’re fine just the way you are!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh-huh…” Miyuki nodded again, this time not so on board with the backhanded compliment, but happy they finally found a solution to their problem. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right! We just don’t have to worry about fastening your collar...no, instead, we’ll have it droop down your arms at the side and….Voila! I’d say you’re ready!” Kesho’s hands quickly got to work, readjusting the robe as necessary around the woman’s body. Finally, she took a step back, admiring her truly finished product. Miyuki herself glanced downwards at the robe, finally getting a much better look at it. While her shoulders were exposed, her arms were now completely covered in a soft white and blue silk, which itself was adorned with detailed wave-like patterns. While the robe draped down to cover the entire back portion of her legs like a cape, the front of them were exposed from the thigh downwards. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>How in the world was this modest before?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Miyuki wondered, feeling way more exposed than she would’ve liked. This entire stylizing session has just been an absolute whirlwind, bringing her a lot of new first experiences, and not ones she was particularly fond of. Remembering the dance she was soon to perform, Miyuki bit her lip as she closed her eyes, trying to calm her beating heart. She probably shouldn’t think about it just yet. Or not at all actually. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Kesho brought forth some kimono sandals for Miyuki to finally slip on, the woman pleaded to be allowed to go on-stage barefoot. While initially objecting to it, the make-up lady eventually conceded with a huff, taking a moment to scan her and feel the pride resurfacing within her. With the final touch of the blue lotus ornament pinned just below Miyuki’s collarbones on her chest, her long and painful transformation was finally complete. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Phew!” The make-up lady let out after dragging the reluctant woman over to a full-length mirror, glancing between the mirror and the woman in anticipation for a positive reaction. To be perfectly honest, Miyuki hadn’t paid much to the new clothing, makeup, or even hairstyle. The only thing catching her attention was the bells she occasionally heard jingle with a slight movement she made. With a brief solemn look, her eyes focused on them in her reflection. However, upon realizing that Kesho’s face was slowly inching closer to her own, Miyuki backed away from the woman, holding up her hands and quickly donning a bright forced smile, “You’re really amazing, you know? I never once thought I could look as beautiful as this!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re definitely correct in saying that,” Kesho pridefully sniffled as she placed her hands on her hips, before softening her smile, “Though really, I didn’t do much. Every woman out there is a princess on their own. It’s just my job to help them realize it.” Giving Miyuki one final slap on the back, she cheered with a fist pump, “Now get out there and get ‘em!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kesho, are you done yet? We need that blue girl now-” Tatsuya’s immediate loud bellowing startled the pair, as he then burst into the tent, stopping briefly for a moment to compose himself as the two ladies stared back at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep, we just finished! Don’t worry, she’s good to go,” with a grin, Kesho held up a thumbs up as her seal of approval. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess anyone can look good if the make-up is done right,” he muttered to himself as he scanned Miyuki up and down, “Good job, Kesho.” Miyuki, not even having heard his comment, was lost in her own depressing thoughts, wearing a miserable expression as she did so. Seeing her face and interpreting it as being hurt by his words, the make-up lady clicked her tongue as she shook her head, disapproving of how tactless a person could be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Tamaki, I heard you’re finally done, so I came to pick you up!” This time, Kina burst into the tent, startling the trio as they whipped around to stare at whoever decided to pop in. Stopping with both her eyes and mouth agape, Kina clapped her hands together, before running to grab the man’s shoulders, shaking him in excitement and completely ignoring the tense atmosphere, “You look absolutely amazing! She looks amazing, doesn’t she, Tatsuya??” Even when Tatsuya looked like he would bite her head off with his nasty glare and scrunched up face, Kina seemed completely obvious to his wordless threats, continuing to shake him back and forth. At this point she was definitely doing this on purpose. No one could be that dense. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You say that, but I think you’re a lot prettier, Kina,” Miyuki let out a giggle, feeling her shoulders gently relax. She wasn’t lying either, as the blonde looked like an absolute ray of sunshine, with her bright blonde hair running straight down, and a yellow crystalline lotus pin clipping aside some of her bangs. She had her own detailed and expensive looking robe, though this was definitely a little more modest. The regret of not having asked for a better colour washed over Miyuki, who stared at the outfit in complete envy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t wait to see you dance up there! I hope there’ll be lots of photos!” Kina cheered with a smirk, sending a shiver down Miyuki’s spine. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wha- Photos?” The woman’s eyes widened, realizing that infiltrating a dance troupe was a lot more than she had bargained for. The last thing she wanted was for her stay here to be documented. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Haha, I’m kidding! But I knew you’d react this way!” Kina laughed, “You’re way too shy for your own good!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please stop teasing me like that!” Miyuki pouted as she folded her arms and looked away. Ever since they had silently retrieved water together, Kina had been acting all too comfortable. Or at least comfortable enough to poke even more fun at her. Still, as much as she hated to admit, it was almost impossible for her not to be just a tiny bit relieved that Kina was here in the first place. As the pair began to converse with one another, leaving Kesho and Tatsuya out as third and fourth wheels, Miyuki, aided by Kina’s sunny disposition, once again tried to calm her racing heart, thinking to herself, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Just remember why you’re here. Then you won’t feel nervous at all</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a loud and rather disgraceful sounding clearing of his throat, Tatsuya managed to regain their attention, “Let’s not forget we’re running on a tight schedule and get moving, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Thank you again for your work, Kesho.” With a bow, The two performers and Tatsuya then exited out of the tent in a hurry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The moment she stepped out of the tent, Miyuki’s eyes widened in surprise over the immediate change in atmosphere. Within the tent, it was nothing but stuffy hearing all of the comments made about her skin, ones that Miyuki were sure weren’t complements. But with just a single step outside and a breath of fresh air, the woman was engrossed, taking in the varying scents of festival foods she never thought she would ever again be able to experience Takoyaki, okonomiyaki, grilled squid, yakitori, dotted with a hint of sweet cotton candy all wafted through the air. While the evening sky was already pitch black, the scattered mass of glowing orange lanterns greatly made up for its lack of light. Cheers, laughter, clapping, and singing drowned out the silence, being emitted from practically all directions. She swore she even heard someone in the back of the crowd aggressively screaming out the word,“Youth!” Though she simply concluded it to be all in her head after scanning the sea of people. Overall, the nostalgia was enough to almost bring tears to her eyes. When looked at like this, she really couldn’t bring herself to think badly of Konoha. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tamaki, come on!” Kina’s voice snapped Miyuki out of her trance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry!” Miyuki cried back as she spun on her heels, feeling the cold dirt path underneath her feet as she ran over to catch up with the pair, already regretting not wearing the sandals. She was sure she was definitely going to cut her feet on something. It was only a matter of time. Eventually, after catching up with them, the trio grouped together with the other performers, who were all huddled behind a giant stage. Catching sight of the structure, Miyuki couldn’t help but fall in love with the lanterns decorating it as well. Not only that, but seeing all of the other members dressed up in their own respective colours and not throwing up after a night of drinking was eye-opening. Each one of them looked like a real-life doll. Having grabbed a hold of Miyuki’s wrist, Kina beamed as they joined with the other four performers, now no longer reluctant to talk to them. Finally, the ringleader popped out from behind a sea of people, chilled to the bone as he muttered about running into someone ‘drenched in a swarm of bugs.’ Upon regrouping together with Tatsuya though, he regained his composure, and began to address the oncoming performance schedule. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“First, we’ll be introducing ourselves, and then the first three acts will perform. Pink will start, followed by purple, and then we’ll end with blue,” the ringleader announced. Following up with words of encouragement, he hyped up the team by proclaiming what was on almost everyone’s mind, that their dreams would be fulfilled today. While she didn't appear this way, being all dressed up like the rest of them, Miyuki definitely felt out of place. Not only because she wasn’t actually a performer, but because she couldn’t get some nagging thoughts out of her head. Ever since she had caught sight of the bells once again, she just couldn't stop thinking about them or...Gently shaking her head, Miyuki balled her hands into fists, catching sight of the zealous expressions of the troupe members around her, trying to find anything to get her mind off of this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yet, being so dangerously close to her performance, Miyuki wasn’t sure how much longer she could really fend these memories off for. Ever since being reminded of their existence, as well as simply knowing she had to perform </span>
  <em>
    <span>the</span>
  </em>
  <span> dance, Miyuki felt her stomach churn with every jingle she heard. Because with each ring, the image of that beautiful dancer twirling around in pure white would continuously reappear within her mind. Shaking her head once again, the woman shut her eyes in protest. Miyuki didn't want to perform. Or rather, she didn’t know if she could. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fortunately, the cheers from her fellow troupe members was enough to snap her out of her thoughts again. Seeing that most of the troupe had begun making their way up the steps and onto the stage, the woman felt her heart skip a beat as she realized it was time. Yet, before she could even budge from her spot, a strong grip on her arm held her in place. Turning around, she came face to face with Tatsuya, who immediately snarled, “Don’t mess this up. Boss might be really excited, but know that I’ll be watching every single little move you make. I won’t let you mess things up for us, you understand? You know what’s on the line, don’t you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While he was absolutely right, Miyuki didn’t think he truly knew the weight of his words. Feeling the burden of not only the memories she didn’t want to remember, but also only now recalling all the promises she had to uphold, Miyuki nodded, forcing herself to appear as calm as she could possibly be, replying with, “Yes, I do.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be watching.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nodding, she silently bowed at him before climbing onstage, instantly becoming blinded by the bright lanterns and deafened by the roar of the crowd, all the while trying to get her legs to cease their trembling. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This one was kind of a tough one to edit, but here we are! Chapter 10/11! The numbering is really messing with me oof<br/>But I have to admit I really am falling in love with posting on here! The system has such a nice layout and I am coming to realize how much I like writing my story :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 11: The Broken Dancer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>TW: Mentions of blood, death, and stabbing near the end of the chapter.<br/>Please DO NOT read if any of this makes you uncomfortable!<br/>Your safety and well-being means SO much more than one chapter of a random fanfic you found online!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One thing Miyuki hadn’t expected was seeing Lord Sixth up on stage with the troupe members. Upon finally making her way up the steps, the woman felt all of her anxiety and misery disappear within a flash, soon to be replaced with an instinctive scrunching up of her face upon seeing the familiar man, now dressed head to toe in an all white Hokage robe and clutching his red and white Hokage cap in one hand. The orange lantern lights hovering around him only added to his radiating image, before he then destroyed it within a second by turning around to display his usual uninterested stare. While she knew he would be at the festival, she didn’t think he would be <em> here </em>. Given what had happened and how she was planning to commit a few crimes in Konoha, this wasn’t exactly ideal. It seemed like no matter what she did, she couldn’t shake him off her trail. On top of that, she had no idea how to act around the guy. Sure she apologized for everything, but who knew what he thought of her now? She sure as heck didn’t. For all she knew he could be up on stage for the sole reason of throwing her out of the village the very second he got the chance. </p><p>‘<em> Wait...I’m wearing makeup and a wig, there’s no he’d recognize me, right? </em> ’ Miyuki blinked, trying to think rationally as she briefly paused at the top of the steps. Upon lifting her head to meet his gaze, the man simply returned a serene closed-eyed smile without a moment’s hesitation. He <em> definitely </em> recognized her. The woman had to fully restrain herself from leaping off the stage and making a run for it out of the village, but then having to remind herself she couldn’t go through this same pattern again. Letting out a breath, Miyuki quickly composed herself, clasping her hands together in front of her before quickly making her way over to stand next to the six other lined up troupe members. Things would be okay. All she had to do was ignore the fact that he was standing six feet away from her next to the ringleader. That wouldn’t be too hard, would it? </p><p>It was actually a lot harder than she thought. After all the members had settled on stage, Lord Sixth had begun introducing their troupe, then allowing for the ringleader to speak and provide a little background on who they were and why they were here. When Miyuki had previously decided it would be best to keep an eye on him, she probably took that thought too literally. Because with each passing second, she would turn her head over to her right to, well as she thought, inconspicuously glare at the Hokage before realizing she should probably turn her head back to face the crowd. And each time this happened, a good portion of the crowd’s heads would follow her gaze to stare at the man, thus confusing him a great deal. </p><p>Kakashi, on the other hand, while he had no idea what was going on at first, eventually caught the gist of what was happening after feeling someone practically stare daggers into his back. This was the second time it happened today. Even though he was the one being stared at, he somehow felt second-hand embarrassment for the woman who never could keep still while in his presence. For whatever reason unknown to him, she was always on edge. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the glaring blue-haired woman, thinking to himself that watching her performance would be the perfect opportunity to see what she could do. He normally wouldn’t give much of a care to a complete stranger, but considering their encounters, he thought a tad bit of curiosity for her was warranted. Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, Kakashi continued on with his introduction of the Crystal Lotus, smoothly confidently speaking out to the audience in an engaging fashion. </p><p>Meanwhile, as Miyuki in the back then impulsively turned her head for the fifth time, she felt a hand gently nudge her cheek so that she was staring directly at the crowd again, realizing the purple lotus man standing next to her had had enough of her behaviour. Standing frozen in place now, she took a quick peek to see his expression, coming to the realization that practically all of the members, aside from Kina, were eyeing her back with an unamused expression. Wearing an apologetic smile, Miyuki turned her focus back to the people before her, taking a moment to study the crowd before her. </p><p>It was a lot more nerve-wracking than she had originally anticipated. No matter where she looked, all eyes were on them. With every gaze she had met, she could feel herself immediately looking away to someone else, not wanting to maintain eye contact with anyone for longer than a moment. It only hit her then how that with every movement she made, at least one person would catch it. This really meant there was no room for error. The eager and excited faces of a good chunk of the entire village were all lined up in rows in front of her, sending quite the number of chills through her. While most of their attention had been diverted to the ringleader, who with his booming voice, was now detailing the Crystal Lotus’s supposed gut-wrenching history, that would soon change. Soon all of their eyes would be watching the pink lotus lady, followed by the purple lotus man and finally, her. </p><p>“Don’t tell me, Miyuki...do you have stage fright?” A familiar voice startled the woman. Widening her eyes, Miyuki trailed her gaze over the crowd, feeling her heart skip a beat as the palms of her hands began to sweat. The sounds around her began to grow muffled, as she could no longer make out any coherent words out of any person around her. After scanning the heads over and over again, Miyuki made absolute sure <em> she </em> wasn’t here. She couldn’t be. The voice had to have definitely been all in her head. As for performing-</p><p>“Haha, it’s okay! You don’t need to perform in front of others!” The same voice spoke again, in the same cruelly sympathetic tone. Miyuki took another moment to flash a scan through the crowd. Again, she wasn’t there. This time though, she barely recognized the crowd before her. Instead, all she could really make out was a blurred sea of white. Feeling her gaze darken, Miyuki bit her lip, chastising herself as fear began to continuously build within her, ‘<em> Not now, go away </em>.’ </p><p>“You can just dance for your father and I!” The voice joyfully boomed, followed by a signature ringing of a bell, prompting Miyuki to shakingly grab at her ear with her left hand, eyes widening as a drop of sweat trailed down her forehead, begging the thoughts to stop, ‘<em> Shut up- </em>’ </p><p>The roar of the crowd immediately shook her out of her consuming thoughts. The looks of excitement as well as their impatient fidgeting seemed to lighten up the atmosphere immensely, momentarily knocking some sense back into Miyuki as her hand slowly fell back to her side. However, upon feeling a hand on her shoulder, the woman let out a loud yelp she regretted before realizing it had been drowned by the applause and cheer. </p><p>“You alright? You seem a little out of it,” Kina called out as she waved her hand in front of Miyuki’s face, worriedly raising a brow. </p><p>“Y-Yeah,” Miyuki nodded, hearing her voice crack a little and silently cringing to herself, “Wh-Where are you and the other two headed?” </p><p>“Man, you’re really out of it! We’re headed off to let you guys take center stage!” Kina called out, almost flashing a look of annoyance at the hollering crowd, before questioning, “Stage fright?”</p><p>“N-No, that’s not it…” Miyuki trailed off, grabbing at her arm as she was unsure of how to explain herself. However, upon being delivered a playfully hard smack to her shoulder, the woman glanced back up at Kina with a look of bewilderment, only to come face to face with a wink and the ‘okay’ hand symbol, “Either way, I’m sure you’ll do great! Don’t want to disappoint Mr. Dreamboat over there after all!” </p><p>“Mr. what?” </p><p>Kina stuck out her tongue while using a finger to gesture over at the man behind her, before taking off with a mischievous grin. Watching her dash off the stage after the other two warm coloured lotuses, Miyuki raised a brow while thinking to herself, ‘<em> Was she talking about the ringleader? Isn’t he at least 30 years older than her? She has rather surprising tastes... </em>’ </p><p>However, upon turning to face the direction Kina had pointed at, Miyuki realized the ringleader was nowhere to be seen, having exited off the platform already. The only people to remain on stage were her, the purple and pink lotus, and Lord Sixth, who was now making his way over to exit the stage as well. Feeling her face flush upon realizing what Kina meant, she immediately whipped her head back to face here, vigorously shaking it from side to side to hint just how wrong Kina was about everything. The blonde herself didn’t seem to quite understand, as she simply smirked after a momentary pause, holding out a thumbs-up as a sign of encouragement. </p><p>“Geez, it’s not like that,” Miyuki whispered out her frustrations, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. </p><p>“It’s not like what?” </p><p>“I don’t think Lord Sixth is a dreamboat,” Miyuki immediately replied, only thereafter taking a moment to realize who she was talking to, “I- I mean good evening, Lord Sixth.” With an unamused face, Kakashi simply stared down at her, deciding it wasn’t worth investing anymore effort into the conversation. Before she could quickly react with her perfect 90 degree angle bow, the man plastered on a hard look of content while holding up his hand, as if to say, ‘<em> Let’s not do this again </em>.’ With a sigh, Miyuki silently conceded while she hung her head low, now listening to the cheers of the crowd finally die down as the Hokage strolled off. </p><p>Feeling a larger hand gently pat her shoulder, Miyuki glanced up at the purple lotus dancer, seeing that underneath his smiling facade was a lot of pent up annoyance, “If you’re done burning our bridge with the Hokage, we’d like to get started.” </p><p>“Right, really sorry about that again…” The woman apologized before making her way to the back corner of the stage, watching the purple lotus man occupy the other while the pink lotus lady then migrated over to the center. When the noise from the surrounding crowd had finally reached a minimum, everyone held their breaths as they directed their attention towards the lady adorned in pink silk and jeweled accessories. </p><p>There she stood, frozen in a rather elegant looking pose, eyes closed. While the backdrop, a pitch black night sky decorated with the numerous warmly glowing lanterns,  hadn’t changed, the atmosphere had shifted immensely with the distinguished presence of the pink lotus performer. Staring could make anyone feel as if they wanted the sight to last forever. Yet, once the music finally began, the lady’s eyes lit up, aided by the glow of the surrounding lights, as she then began to gracefully glide around the stage, capturing the hearts of everyone watching with her firm, yet light movements. </p><p>But the more she continued to watch, the more Miyuki realized how she couldn’t even stand it. More specifically, she couldn’t handle seeing their smile. All the performers here, having been given a chance to perform before the officials and villagers of Konoha, shared a common passion for loving their art. They each expressed that vividly, both through their facial expressions, in addition to every slight gesture they made. </p><p>Miyuki couldn’t share the same sentiment. With the blink of an eye, the pink lotus dancer was no longer passionately dancing on stage before her. In her place was a younger five year old girl, taking drastic leaps around pure white snow. With each landing she had managed to cause a number of cold flakes to spew out everywhere, practically making a mess. Yet, the older woman watching from the side didn’t seem to mind as much as Miyuki did, clapping her hands together as she gleefully watched the child. </p><p>“You really love dancing, don’t you, Miyuki?” </p><p>‘<em> No, I don’t </em>,’ Miyuki silently answered as her gaze trailed down to her bare feet, clenching her teeth upon hearing the young child squeak back, “Yep! I hope to get as good as you, one day!” </p><p>‘<em> You be quiet </em>.’ </p><p>“You’ll master it in no time, I’m sure!” </p><p>‘<em> Just leave me alone </em>.’</p><p>The roar of the crowd wasn’t enough to fully snap her out of her memories anymore. While Miyuki slowly began to lose herself to the emotions and recollections she successfully had forced away for so long, a sense of foreboding dread grabbed a hold of her, refusing to let go. The purple lotus performer had now caught on the crowd’s attention, effortlessly maintaining their focus on him as he slid across the stage, like a ribbon blowing in the wind. </p><p>All Miyuki saw before her instead was the same child, now six years old, sitting with her knees hugged up to her chest, staring up as she breathed out into the cold. One again, the young girl was surrounded by a field of pure white, longfully watching snowflakes slowly descend out of the sky. With her trembling red fingers, she held out her hand to catch a few snowflakes, sniffling as each beautiful crystalline figure melted into a flimsy blue droplet of water. Letting out a sigh, the young girl went back to hugging her knees, lowering her head so she wouldn’t have to watch them anymore. </p><p>“You’ve been really down these days,” the familiar voice called out, as out of nowhere, the older woman appeared to take a seat next to the young girl, who didn’t budge. Together they sat, braving the cold chills that pushed the snow around the two. Staring at them from afar, Miyuki’s gaze rested on the older woman, watching her short hair gently blow in the wind. The two bells she had tying it back swayed in the breeze, letting out a faint yet distinct ring. She was sick of always hearing them. But at that time she was that struggling little girl, hearing those bells comfort. Because it meant that her mother was right next to her. </p><p>The older woman worriedly glanced down at the child, before gazing up at the sky, sticking out a hand to catch the falling snowflakes in her hand. As she watched them melt into the beautiful blue droplets her daughter had so clearly despised, she instead, looked upon them with the utmost contentment. The older woman knew why her daughter was upset. Why she had stopped dancing. But what could she say at a time like this, over something her daughter had no control over, but still went out of her way to degrade herself for?</p><p>“Don’t stop dancing,” the older woman finally breathed out, before taking a long pause. Her daughter, on the other hand, flinched on the spot, but otherwise, didn’t react. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, before the mother continued, “You love to dance.” </p><p>“No I don’t-” The little girl squeaked, shaking her head from side to side as her grip around her legs tightened. </p><p>“So what if you can’t replicate this silly jutsu perfectly? The only one holding you back right now is you,” Her mother continued, “Because the way I see it, you have the potential to sparkle more than I ever could.” </p><p>“There’s no way-” the young girl finally looked up in desperation, pulling back as her mother placed a finger on her forehead and leaned in. </p><p>“I’m telling the truth. I see you sneaking out everyday past your bedtime to practice. And don’t think I don’t know about what you do by the river. Gosh, you always take such drastic measures for things you like, but do you have any idea how much it worries me?” The young girl felt her face flush as she stared down at her hands, guiltily wondering how in the world her mother had caught her. Maybe it had been the knocking over of bottles and canisters those few times. However, her mother didn’t push anymore, now glancing back up at the sky, “So, knowing this, what’s holding you back from perfecting and bettering this jutsu? As the creator of it, I say all you really need is passion and hard work. Nothing else.” </p><p>“Mom…” The young child protested. </p><p>“Are you afraid of what other people are going to say? Because let me tell you...If others point, cover your eyes. If they laugh, cover your ears. If they hold you back, break free from them. And if they somehow keep bothering you, I’ll just go beat them up!” As the little girl glanced up at her mother with widened eyes, she felt herself smiling for once, having completely forgotten what she had been so upset and dejected about. Eventually, she burst out into laughter, and was joined by her mother. Now, along with the almost miniscule ringing of the bells, the relieved giggles began pushing out the freezing silence. </p><p>The cheer of the crowd signified the end of the purple lotus performance. As the image of the delighted mother and daughter pair began to fade away, the older woman once again looked down at her child, wondering with a smile, “Now tell me, what’s holding you back?” </p><p>Taking a long and drawn out deep breath in and out, Miyuki closed her eyes for a brief moment, before opening them again, attempting to ground herself. The cheer of the villagers, the almost burning smell of festival treats, and the warm glow lighting up the night sky. As the purple lotus man quickly made his way over to switch spots with the woman, he held his tongue upon seeing the look in her eyes. As opposed to practically everything else in this festival, her brown eyes were nothing short of dull. Luckily, he didn’t have to interact much with her, as silently gave a bow at him before walking to the center of the stage. </p><p>Only a few people noticed the extreme shift in her demeanor. First was the purple lotus performer, as he was the one closest to her in terms of proximity. Kina, on the other hand, couldn’t help but feel a slight form of alarm upon seeing her face, realizing that it truly wasn’t stage fright plaguing her blue lotus friend. Finally, as Miyuki planted herself on the spot, turning so that her back was facing the crowd, Kakashi raised a brow upon seeing her as well. While her eyes were closed, the air around her had shifted, now strongly opposing the warm and jolly atmosphere that had thoroughly maintained itself throughout the night. As he stared at her, he felt a chill. It was rather silly to consider, seeing how it was a hot summer night, and during the middle of a festival. What exactly could go wrong? </p><p>‘<em> Now tell me, what’s holding you back? </em>’ </p><p>The same question echoed throughout Miyuki’s mind. Here she stood, in place of the two figures she had originally seen. At the time her mother asked that of her, the young girl honestly had nothing to reply with. Because after that talk, she finally attained enough confidence to keep going. But now things were different. Miyuki slowly opened her eyes, hesitantly but surely forcing her shaking hands together into the jutsu sequence she had committed to memory long ago. For the troupe members and the Hokage, having full view of her demeanor, it was as if someone had been cruelly forced into performing her act. As she briefly paused before forming her final hand seal, she clenched her teeth and recklessly forced her hands together in a struggle. </p><p>Within an instant, the water from the ten boxes she had prepared beforehand flew up into the sky, as they were now vibrant little droplets that had seemingly been given life. This was the easy part. She had gotten this far when showing the dance troupe her little trick back at the small village. But now she had to dance with it, to really bring it into full effect. To accomplish her goal here in the village. And to not get mercilessly kicked out of Konoha by Tatsuya. Through this jutsu and using precise chakra control, Miyuki could feel where each and every little individual water droplet was, also being able to control each of their movements. </p><p>‘<em> There are two things that kept me from dancing </em>,’ Miyuki thought as lowered her center of gravity by bending her knees, letting muscle memory overtake her as her arms gently cut and waved through the air. None of them were stage fright. In fact, that was probably the thing she had the most confidence in. After her talk with her mother, no, even before that, she would always sneak off to practice this dance over and over, being driven by the image of her mother she had committed to memory. Even now, despite not having practiced this dance for years, having committed this dance to memory as best she could, Miyuki was able to smoothly glide around the stage, feeling sweat drip from her forehead as she rotated her wrists with outstretched hands. The water droplets in the air moved accordingly with every simple gesture she made, acting as if they were ripples in a calm lake. </p><p>Yes. The water. Not snow. </p><p>As Miyuki twirled around the entire stage, she continued to visualize the very woman she admired for years. Her mother had created this jutsu, or more specifically, this Ice Style: Heavenly Dance of the Crystal Snow Jutsu. As a child, her mother had a knack for the healing arts, but also was someone who simply couldn’t sit still. As a result, she created a jutsu that managed to merge these two together, utilizing her bloodline limit and her special ability to create snow, as opposed to regular ice. Each snowflake could act to restore both energy and vibrancy into anyone, even going so far as to heal minor injuries. </p><p>Miyuki brought both her legs together, now holding up her left hand to point up at the sky. As opposed to seeing a gently swirling blizzard of snow, instead, all that twirled around her was a dome of water droplets. Next to the floating lanterns, they almost looked like drops of honey, something that seemingly was attracting interest from the children of the crowd. But to Miyuki, this sight was something she had loathed to her very core. Enough to want to never perform this dance again.</p><p>Because that was the fatal flaw. It was water. Despite having hailed from an entire clan of ice users, Miyuki, for some unknown reason could never create it herself. She did have the chakra affinity for both required elements, water and wind, but just could never fuse them together to create ice. If she couldn’t even create something remotely close to ice, how in the world could she attempt her mother’s jutsu? It was practically impossible. </p><p>Yet, despite her insecurities, that talk with her mother really changed a lot for her. Her mother had always been supportive like that. She was her best friend. Her confidant. With her endless encouragement, Miyuki was able to fully commit this dance and jutsu to memory. Rather than using snow, she sought to use water instead, reworking the jutsu into something she could potentially master and utilize on her own. It was all thanks to her mother that she was able to use this now today, because without her by her side, she would have never completed her own version of the jutsu. </p><p>Kina and the Hokage both stopped as they carefully studied the dancer. It was slight, and very easy to overlook, but definitely happening. With the flurry of water droplets constantly moving about, sometimes shielding and sometimes dancing along with the woman, anyone could easily see the tears trailing down her face. Because these tears, without a second thought, would be brought up to join the water in the sky, merging into the ensemble of sweet honey shaded array of droplets. The dancer herself didn’t even seem to realize she was crying. But seeing the slight quiver from her lower lip and the look of pure agony in her eyes, they knew the chill they felt upon first seeing her up there wasn’t a misguided feeling. </p><p>But there was another reason Miyuki had decided to never dance again. Or rather she couldn’t, and for a rather simple reason. It was why she had constantly been repressing these memories in the first place. Everytime she even thought about the dance, or was reminded of the existence of the bells in her hair, she was <em> there </em> again. Sitting in a sea of pure white, cold crystal flakes. Most of her senses had shut off by then, as she was unable to hear a thing, but the image before her was as clear as day. Contrary to the brightness of the gentle snowflakes surrounding her, there was yet another prominent colour present. Bright and horridly pungent red. </p><p>Miyuki stopped, trying to keep herself from collapsing onto the ground by bending her knees. Rather than focusing on the honey coloured droplets in the sky, most of her attention was now being focused on the floor, as she grabbed at her head with one hand, the other held up to control the floating water. While the stage itself was white, all she could see was red. Her heart was pounding as she caught a lump in her throat. Only then did she realize that her face was wet. But honestly, that was the least of her problems. As of right now, the water in the sky hadn’t taken that much of a hit from her sudden resurgence of unwanted memories. She was going to be okay. No one had noticed yet. </p><p>Then, there was the sound of rushing water. Not from her water display in the sky. Or from the river she had gone to this afternoon. It was a rather deafening sound of rushing water from a river, just like the one she had eventually heard <em> that </em> day. And there it was. Dripping onto the pure white snow around them, was dark red blood. Dripping slowly from the long swords, dotting the snow beneath them, having its warmth melt away through the crystal white cold. These very weapons had been thrusted through the chest of the woman, whose eyelids slowly fell with every passing second. Miyuki couldn’t move. Like many things during the harsh season of winter, she was frozen in place. </p><p>But just because she couldn’t move then and even now, didn’t mean that those around her would do the same. Despite her best efforts, Miyuki’s knees gave way on stage, as her nails dug into her head, trying so desperately to cast the memory aside. Her left hand remained weakly held up above her head, still showing some semblance of control over the water. However, the awe-inspired crowd soon came to realize there was something wrong with the dancer on stage. Miyuki didn’t even seem to realize this, as she heavily wheezed, trying so desperately to get herself to stop. Watching her mother, the one always branding a warm smile, slowly grow cold and unmoving tore Miyuki apart. No longer did she see her mother shrouded in an alluring blanket of snow, with lashes dotted with white. All that remained now was a pooling sea of blinding red, with one last realization. The ringing of the bells had stopped. </p><p>“St...Stop it...Please...I’m begging you…” Miyuki choked out, seeing nothing but red despite her tears blurring her vision. As she was left trembling on the stage, a sense of panic and urgency quickly spread throughout the villagers of the crowd. Something was definitely wrong. Murmuring and whispers echoed throughout, as even onlookers from nearby festival grounds glanced over to figure out why there was a sudden shift in atmosphere. Before Kakashi could decide on his next move, eyes trailing between the crowd and the trembling woman on stage, he noticed the familiar blonde from nearby spring up from her seat. Confusion and distress were understatements to describe what Kina was feeling right now. Without a second thought, ignoring the muffled worries of her fellow troupe members, she took off for the stage steps.</p><p>“Is she alright?” </p><p>“Mommy, is the blue lady okay?” </p><p>“I don’t know, she seems to be in pain…”</p><p>Why she did what she did next, no one really had a solid answer for. Had she caught the concerns of the crowd and realized she was still on stage? Had she realized she could potentially be thrown out of the village for inducing so much panic and unease into the villagers? Or had she simply wanted to leave and be alone? Her head remained lowered so now one could exactly study her expression. </p><p>However, amidst the rising alarm, Miyuki silently lifted her left hand, reaching up towards the night sky. The tranquil drops of water followed along, no longer carrying the same vigor they had at the start of performance. Silence ensued as their attention once again focused on the woman. Before any questions would further arise, with a simple flick of her wrist, the water that had remained concentrated around her in a dome scattered about up into the sky, somehow even managing to quench the burning flames within each floating lantern. Within an instant, the darkness of the night was left to overtake the watching audience, as all of the warmth from the glowing lights had disappeared for good. But before hysteria and terror could ensue among them, each individual took a moment to adjust their eyes to the darkness, realizing that the water droplets had ruptured, shrouding them all in a glittering and captivating mist. When the people finally redirected their attention back to the stage, eyes darting all over in search of the woman responsible for this whirlwind of a performance, they realized she was gone. The blue lotus performer had disappeared without a trace. All that remained was the black night sky.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the late post! I ended up taking a LOT longer than I thought to write/edit this chapter because I had so much planned and am hoping I executed it well enough! Either way, I tried my best! Thank you again for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 12: Curiosity, Resolve, & Denial</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“She’s gone!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What in the world just happened?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where did she go?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chatter amongst the watching crowd progressively picked up once again, as each individual eagerly scanned all around them, searching for any sign of the runaway performer. The last of the remaining water from her final act settled overtop of the people, providing what seemed like a cool refreshing treat to end off a hot summer day. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the liveliness of Konoha’s villagers was soon faithfully restored, Kakashi took a moment to collect his thoughts. His gaze trailed over to rest on the spot onstage where the Blue Lotus dancer had last stood, having previously crumbled under the warm limelight. Even though she was no longer there, he could visualize her trembling form down to the very last detail, as the expression she wore was one Kakashi could recognize anywhere. During her dance as well, while the crowd marveled at the novel display she brought forth with her mask of confidence, all Kakashi could really take notice of was her face. Or the crumpled pain behind her veil of tears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Holding up a hand to shield his face from the freefalling mist, the Hokage glanced upwards at the night sky. After all of the performance venue lights had been extinguished, what immediately hit those watching was a second of vulnerability, as everyone had been swallowed up by dread and an overwhelming blackness. But then, as one’s eyes began to adjust to their surroundings, what remained was pure awe at the shimmering water dotting the sky, now faintly illuminated by the moonlight peeking out from behind the ashen grey clouds. Or, at least, most of everyone had undergone this transition. Judging from the shocked faces of the crowd, the man could only assume as much at least. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the Hokage, however, he was hit with a rather different situation. Squinting upwards at the vast sea of darkness overtop of him, Kakashi couldn’t shake off this new sensation that had befallen him. Seeing how empty it was shouldn’t be that surprising in the first place. After all, due to a combination of sparkling homey village lights, festival lanterns, and streetlights, it was expected for the sky to only appear so lackluster in comparison. Light pollution was no new phenomenon to the Hokage. Yet, as he stared upwards, all that remained was a chill that ran down the length of his spine. It didn’t happen to be a chill accompanied by alarm-inducing fear and murderous killing intent. No, while that was a state he had grown comfortably accustomed to, this was quite different. The chills he felt now were from a feeling he hadn’t thought he would ever feel again. A feeling of loneliness. A learned helplessness. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, as the cool blanket of mist had finally settled, having mostly collected onto the dry dirt beneath everyones’ feet, the heated warmth of the summer night quickly resumed its rule, reuniting the crowd with a fulfilling wave of security. While even the Hokage couldn’t escape the reaches of the now hyper-excited and relaxed crowd, he still couldn’t help but wonder to himself, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Is this a premonition?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Placing his hand on his chin, Kakashi reflected back on his rather successful history of predicting tremorous events with his hunches before recalling he still had a job to do. Luckily for him, the performances for today were over, so that meant he didn’t have to re-light the lanterns. There was still a rather confused and hyperactive crowd however, that needed to be dispersed. Letting out a sigh, the Hokage scratched at the back of his head before quickly throwing on his Hokage cap, muttering to himself, “This day just never ends.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“L-Lord Sixth…I’m so terribly sorry-” The ringleader nervously approached the man clad in all white, preparing to donate all of his life savings and pig farm inheritance to repent for the turn of events. However, he was immediately cut off by the Hokage’s reassuring grin, promising that there was truly no harm done today. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With that, Lord Kakashi climbed back onto the stage, refocusing the crowd’s wandering attention back onto him. Without a moment’s hesitation, the Hokage proceeded with a concluding speech, hinting at some potentially fun festivities for families to partake in as the night was still young. No one could detect even a hint of panic in his tone, even when he finally clapped his hands together to have the people follow his lead and give the performers for tonight a big round of applause, finally ending off with an elated thank you. If Konoha’s trusted and well-respected leader wasn’t displaying any signs of agony or worry over what had happened, why should anyone else? Clearly there was nothing to fret over. Perhaps everything was staged? If that were the case, it would have been quite the emotionally impacting performance, but at least nothing was wrong and no one was hurt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seeing their reaction, the members of the Crystal Lotus let out their own silent sighs of relief, realizing how the Hokage had rescued their potentially damaged reputation, now wondering how much of their remaining family farm inheritances they could possibly donate to repay him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As a result, the concentrated crowd began to quickly disperse, with eager individuals flooding into the streets and vendors of Konoha, now spreading their energy elsewhere. Or at least most of it. Before he could even silently celebrate that the lively crowd was mostly gone, Kakashi couldn’t help but overhear some angry snapping from a familiar looking blonde woman in the distance, recognizing her face and all-yellow costume. Letting out another sigh, the man leaped off of the stage and back onto solid ground, already wanting to call it a night and go home. Except, going home these days typically meant pulling an all nighter or falling asleep overtop heaps of paperwork in his office. But even that he was warming up to right now. Before he could think of much else, he was then startled by a high-pitched squeak calling for his attention, prompting the Lord to silently groan, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>What now?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lord Hokage!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A young girl hastily bound up to him, ignoring the worried cries of concern from her mother who was only a few paces short of her daughter. Within her arms she clutched tightly at a white stuffed rabbit, while she herself gazed up at the towering man with bright wide eyes. Despite having called for his attention so loudly just a few moments prior, she began fidgeting on the spot and avoiding eye contact now that he was giving it to her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi silently stared back at the child, almost freezing in place. Typically speaking, nothing could really scare him. Sure, he was terrified for his life upon encountering one of the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, but let’s be real, who wouldn’t be? Ever since being granted the title of Hokage, there was always one thing at the back of Kakashi’s mind that brought him constant worry. Socializing with children. While he often encountered and spoke to children in Konoha, that didn’t necessarily mean he was particularly good at it. Not as good as Lord Third at least. Usually he just plastered on a smile and spoke to them, envisioning them as tiny adults. He couldn’t really understand how children had so much energy. Most of the time they just reminded him of Guy. They were just mini-Guys running around. With less eyebrow game. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Feeling his eye twitch, Kakashi tried to collect his thoughts and approach this rationally. He spoke to all people of all different kinds of personalities and was able to interact with them all relatively well. This couldn’t be that hard, could it? Realizing how intimidating he probably appeared to her, the man hastily removed his Hokage cap, lowering himself to level with the child, “What is it?” Good. He was doing good. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That lady...she was crying and then she ran away...Where did she go?” The young girl wondered, glancing up at her mother who had finally caught up with the pair, “Is...is she going to be okay?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yes, his thoughts from before were going to address this. But to answer her question was tough, as the Hokage honestly didn’t have an answer for her. His automatic go-to response to any stranger child’s worry was to assure them things were going to be okay. This situation didn’t call for anything different. Despite this, he couldn’t force those words out with his usual comforting smile. Because something was stopping him from immediately doing so this time. The image of the dancer’s trembling form. As he recalled it, further burning it into his memory, Kakashi glanced off into the distance behind the young girl, remembering this was the direction he had last seen her take off into after using her dazzling water display as a distractor. Obviously he couldn’t have gone after her right away, nor was it his responsibility to find the Blue Lotus dancer in the first place. But given his strikingly bad feeling from before, he couldn’t help but want to know more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Closing his eyes and confusing the child immensely with his silence, Kakashi rose up from his spot. The paperwork would have to wait for now. He had something else occupying his interest at the moment. With one swift movement, Kakashi pulled off his white cloak and cap, finally letting out, “She’ll be fine.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Enjoy the rest of your night,” the Hokage hurriedly added on with a smile and a wave before strolling off on his own. The young girl raised a brow as she looked up at her mother, who seemed to share the same sentiment as they watched him walk off sharing a thought, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>That wasn’t reassuring at all.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kina quietly stood alongside the huddled troupe members, playing around with her hands as feelings of discomfort began to rise up within her. She didn’t try to make any unnecessary eye contact with her neighbours, or even the members standing across from her. She simply kept her head down, just as how she had always done whenever they assembled together like this. And they did this a lot. With time, their little meeting would soon be over, resulting in the strengthening of all their bonds, all feeling just a little bit closer to one another than they had before. This however, only wedged a further divide between them and Kina. But what else could she really do? Things were always like this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she shifted around on her spot, Kina silently recalled the events that had just taken place, trying to piece together what in the world just happened and why exactly her heart was racing so fast. Tamaki was on stage. Crying and trembling. All Kina remembered next was impulsively leaping up from her seat near the back-end of the stage, immediately taking off towards and up the stage steps, ignoring Tatsuya’s cries of protest from behind. But then things went dark. And Tamaki was gone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re saved!” The Pink Lotus dancer clapped her hands together, snapping Kina out of her thoughts, “It was nothing short of a blessing for Lord Sixth to step in like that!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right. Now here they stood, huddled together next to the stage after Lord Hokage had concluded the performances for tonight. The rest of the group erupted in applause at the comment made by the dancer, commending her for acknowledging what everyone was thinking. Hesitant but surely, Kina’s hands silently balled into fists as she processed those words. Had they not seen the crying woman on stage? How in the world were they able to think what had happened was a success? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We really worked hard for tonight, especially you guys, Boss and Tatsuya! Let’s make tomorrow a success, shall we?” The Purple Lotus dancer laughed as he placed his hands on his hips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kina’s glaring gaze was soon redirected to the two men, in particular, Tatsuya. After freezing up on that final step, Kina soon felt her body begin to pull back away from the stage. Hastily turning her head around, eyes widened and ready to pounce on whoever dared to intercept her, she felt her resolve crumble upon realizing she wasn’t just under the watchful eye of Tatsuya, but everyone else in the troupe as well. While they wore masks of kind worry, Kina had been around them long enough to know what they were really making of this whole situation. They viewed her with disdain. And now Tamaki too. While their whispers for her to get down from there were colored with pretty empathetic words, in reality, down underneath, they were snickering. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go out tonight and celebrate, shall we? Like Lord Hokage said, the night is still young!” Yet another member continued to add onto the elated cheering. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kina clenched her teeth in annoyance, lowering her head to shade her eyes from having to look at the members. Part of her frustrations definitely lie with the group members, but the other part was directed at herself. She hated how she’d always lower her head out of habit whenever she was uncomfortable around them. But what else could she do? Maybe she should be grateful. After all, tonight’s treatment was relatively lax, as when their original Blue Lotus dancer, Setsuna, was present, they wouldn’t even physically include Kina in their little huddle. She should be happy to be so included for once. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kina was scared. She was scared of driving that wedge even deeper between herself and the troupe members if she ever were to lash out. She travelled with these people day in and day out, of course she should do everything to try to get along with them, right? Even if it meant silently sniffling in her sleeping bag because everyone else had decided to run off to play in a nearby river. Even if it meant having to go out on errands alone. Even if it meant being constantly forgotten and virtually invisible to them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But now, Kina was also worried for her friend, and not just simply cowering in fear. This time, something else was brewing inside of her. Annoyance and anger. Well, in actuality, these emotions had been progressively amassed over the past few months spent together with the troupe. Tamaki’s presence simply acted as the trigger for Kina to finally forget her aforementioned insecurities and unleash all of her pent up rage. She could do this. Sure, before she never had a backbone to stick up for herself, but this time, she had yet another solid reason to be angry at them. Letting out a deep breath, Kina looked up at the troupe members again, trembling on the spot, but repeatedly reassuring herself, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Next time, I’ll really let them have it</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But in the end, she couldn’t do it. Over and over again she silently watched their bright smiles beam at another, listening to their lively back and forths and ever so clearly detecting the words laced with poison. Kina had solidified her resolve to finally retaliate. Why couldn’t she do it? Tamaki not only offered her services to fill in for their very important missing role, but pushed herself to perform a dance that clearly tore her apart. Now she was missing. How could they ignore that? In what way was today a success? Kina ran these thoughts over and over again, trying to pick apart her argument. She wasn’t in the wrong. She couldn’t be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>I really am pathetic</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’ Kina repeated to herself, lowering her head once more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was kinda sad, wasn’t it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who was that blue woman even? Crying on stage like that in the middle of a performance? How pathetic!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kina heard a snap. Little by little, she rotated her head to glare up at the novel snickering voices coming from off into the distance, locking in her gaze onto a pair of young adults leisurely chatting about. The atmosphere around her had shifted so suddenly that some of the member’s faces immediately fell, as they slowly redirected their gaze to stare at the shorter blonde woman. Not once in their entire time spent together with her, had they ever seen her make a face like that. But that moment of suspension didn’t last for long. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Within seconds, Kina had rolled up the sleeves of her costume, now briskly stomping over to the badmouthing pair with a huff, opening her mouth to scream out bloody murder. All she could see was red. However, just like before, Tatsuya was a step ahead of the others as he had caught onto her thinking process just in time, leaping forward to now forcefully hold her back, “Hey! Kina, calm down!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let go of me!” Kina cried, trying to force her arms out of his surprisingly tight grasp. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand how you feel, but you can’t just attack random people like that-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How in the world would you understand how I feel?!” Kina shrieked, a little louder than she had intended, hearing her voice crack as she did so. Now all of the troupe members were staring at her in complete shock. Tatsuya briefly stopped for a moment, loosening his grip slightly as he then inquired, “What’s gotten into you? You’ve only known her for a day-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It only took Tamaki a day to realize how lonely I was!” Kina cried, feeling her strength leave her body as tears trailed down her face. As Tatsuya finally let go of her, letting her collapse onto her knees, Kina brought up a hand to wipe at her eyes. Her efforts were completely futile, as the tears just wouldn’t stop. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You...You all saw, didn’t you?” Kina choked out, staring down at the now dampened soil, “She was crying. And now she’s gone.” Biting at her lip, she forcefully redirected her shaking self to look up at each and every member’s face. Terror struck the moment she did, remembering all of the possible thoughts that could possibly be running through their minds right now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clenching her hand, Kina immediately slammed it down onto the soil, feeling an immediate sharp pain race through it upon contact, “How can all of you laugh so whole-heartedly at her expense? I know she may have messed up a bunch with Lord Sixth, but even he was nicer to her than any of you. And now you’re off to go celebrate, knowing that someone who had sacrificed her time and efforts just for us, is off having the worst time of her life?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s one thing to ignore a member of your own dance troupe for months on end, whether it was accidental or on purpose. But this is a new low. I had no idea I was travelling with a bunch of cruel and heartless monsters,” Kina spat out, rising from her spot as she was no longer trembling out of terror, maintaining her eye contact as she did so. Her mind was absolutely clear now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Scanning her surroundings once again, Kina felt slightly disheartened seeing that Lord Sixth was nowhere in sight anymore. When did he leave? She figured if anyone could track Tamaki down it would be a Konoha shinobi. Nevertheless, that wasn’t going to stop her from searching herself. Spinning on her heels, Kina rubbed her eyes dry with one hand, with the other clutching at her costume to keep herself from tripping over it. Before she could take off, Tatsuya’s shaky voice, interweaved with guilt, called out after her, “Wh-Where are you going?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kina honestly had no idea. She had no idea how to really track someone down. Surrounding her were seas of crowds, vendors, buildings, pretty much anything capable of concealing one adult woman. It could take her all night with her search, and even then she may end up being unable to find her. But she couldn’t just sit still. Glancing up at the night sky, Kina’s eyes widened as she swore she spotted the faint glimmer of a tiny star up above. She then replied back, full of determination, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to find my friend.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The river was cold. Well, cold was an understatement. It was deathly freezing. Miyuki honestly couldn’t feel any part of her beneath her knees as she quietly stood as a pillar to the rushing water. With her eyes closed, the woman was absolutely still, listening in on the frogs croaking and crickets chirping nearby, taking in the musky and soil-like scent clogging up her nostrils. She focused on these two senses, trying to ignore the drops of water gently trailing down her face from her hair and eyelashes. As still as she tried to be, nothing could truly hide the fact that she was trembling from being drenched head to toe in icy cold water. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t help that it was dark either, since the woman always had a fear of it. Even though the moonlight should be spreading its pale glow from above, and lighting up all of her surroundings, the vast array of tall nearby trees shaded her from its liberating glow, entrenching her figure in the shaded shadows. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly opening her eyes again, Miyuki stared down, watching as the droplets leaving the tips of her fingers, hair, and nose fell to join in with the river, causing tiny ripples in the water that were soon washed away by the faster current. Honestly, what was she thinking? There was no way she was emotionally ready to handle going through with that dance. She had been too negligent in thinking she could handle it if it meant being granted access into Konoha. Now all she could think about was- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Falling to her knees and wincing upon feeling the mix of jagged and smooth rocks pierce into her skin, Miyuki dunked her head underwater, letting the numbing and biting pain overtake her face as she did so. How long she stayed there she didn't know, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> time, she made sure to stay there extra long in hopes that she would finally stop thinking about any unwanted and distracting memories. However, she seemed to have overestimated her lung capacity, as within an instant, she had resurfaced, gasping for air and coughing on a good portion of the river water she had accidentally managed to take up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Miyuki threw her head back in an attempt to keep her hair from blocking her vision, rubbing away at her face with a hand that was numb from the cold. As she panted for air in her kneeling position, feeling multiple shivers run down her spine from a gentle breeze that happened to blow up against her bare skin, the woman reminded herself she couldn’t stay in there for much longer as she would really get sick then. She was already heavily risking her health right now, engaging with the river like this. Any more and her body temperature would really collapse to life-threatening levels, meaning she could be severely compromised in accomplishing her mission. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a trembling sigh, Miyuki glanced over at the riverbank next to her, glancing at the accessories and costume she had been wearing not too long ago, now sadly laying overtop of the crumbly sand. Her eyes lingered overtop of the robe, noting to herself how she had really lost herself upon seeing how messily thrown aside the costume was. The least she could’ve done before coming in for a swim was fold it. But the fact of the matter was she was no longer thinking about </span>
  <em>
    <span>it</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The fact that the two cursed pieces of silver metal were hidden away underneath the robe was nowhere near being on her mind. Heck, even if she were thinking about it, which she definitely wasn’t, the best part of it was, she once again could no longer hear the ringing of them in her ears. She was miserable, cold, and on the verge of becoming deathly ill. But she was free. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure, she had to use such drastic measures to ensure she would stop thinking about it, but she needed to do what she needed to do. Deciding it was finally time to get out of the water, Miyuki pushed herself up and onto her feet, feeling the bitter cold bite at her arms as she shoved them into the stream. As she wobbled on the spot, now feeling extremely light headed from having stayed in there for so long, Miyuki slowly teetered over to where the clothes lay, collapsing with a shivering huff onto the much warmer solid ground. Thankfully, it was a fairly warm hot summer day, meaning she didn’t have to worry about freezing outside of the river. Well, at least not as much as compared to a below freezing winter day, dominated by blizzards. That would be truly a nightmare. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she lay on her back, Miyuki realized if she stayed like this, she would fall vulnerable to the darkened night sky above, which wasn’t an ideal situation. Shifting over to her side, the woman slowly brought her legs up and closer to her core, shivering as she gripped at her shoulders. She probably should’ve shaken herself off like one of those dogs just coming out of a lake after a nice bath. Miyuki honestly would have done so if her legs weren’t screaming in full on pain right now. Pain from both standing in a river for so long and for pushing herself too hard while onstage. While her red and trembling fingers were also shaking from the cold, they were just as tired from the jutsu she used. Not that she should be thinking about that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But as Miyuki tilted her head to get a better look at her thrown aside costume, she couldn’t help but recall events that had literally just happened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After extinguishing all of the lanterns within an instant, expending quite a bit of chakra as she tried to manage such an intricate maneuver, she quickly snuck off of the stage as everyone’s attention had been redirected above. After that, well, her mind was in a complete daze. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman honestly didn’t remember much else, aside from the feeling of suffocation building within her no matter where she had looked. While her vision was extremely blurred, she could still see the masses of people were all around her, watching and staring. She recalled grabbing at her throat and stumbling around the crowds, making awkward and violent turns every few seconds in hopes it would help her finally escape. Then, she was hovering overtop of the river, no longer around the warm and suffocating atmosphere of the joyous festival, but alone, relieved, and finally able to breathe again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In addition to this, she had apparently somehow managed to stumble back into the empty make-up tent and grab her belongings, as her black boots, blue shorts, cloak, and ninja gear were all in her arms. There she stood, unmoving as she watched her reflection in the river, wondering who the heck the blue-haired lady with makeup running down her face staring back at her was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But having found the unpopulated river in the first place was actually the easy bit. Next came the headaches and the painful resurfacing of her memories, to which she still couldn’t banish away like she had done so well in the past. Truly it was a dangerous decision she had clearly underestimated the repercussions of. What in the world was she thinking? But Miyuki couldn’t afford to fall down this rabbit hole. Not today. The next thing she knew, she was tearing off the wig and the robe, throwing on her pair of shorts and with a lack of a better plan, dunking her head into the freezing water. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And now here she was. Trembling on a river bank, surrounded by a relatively vast clearing with forests on either side, resting underneath the enveloping vastness of the black night sky. Closing her eyes, Miyuki let out sigh as she felt yet another breeze, sending an intense fit of shivers down her spine. The only solace she had from this chilling episode was that she could no longer hear the jingling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But...if she hated the ringing so much, why had she kept them around in the first place? As much as she didn’t want to acknowledge the answer, she knew exactly what it was. She had made up plenty of reasons in the past for why she did so, convincing herself it was simply out of convenience as her hair was really long and she needed something to tie it up and was too poor to afford actual hair accessories. Other times she had convinced herself they were empowering, and made her feel pretty cool. With heavy arms, Miyuki hugged her wet knees up against her equally drenched chest, resting her cold cheek up against the dusty ground below. The water continued to drip from her body and onto the ground as she bit at her lip. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite all this, in actuality, Miyuki just missed her mom. That was all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Feeling her eyes grow watery and her face heat up once again, Miyuki lowered her head, trying to squeeze herself into a tight ball. Just this once...how much could it really hurt to cry? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her body sprang up from the spot, as if it were immediately rejecting the proposal. Disappointment and hurt were her immediate reactions, though her mind was in no mood to pay any heed to her emotions. Against what she really wanted to do, Miyuki simply slapped both of her cheeks, thinking to herself that if she were to keep her body moving, she would probably stop these thoughts altogether. Dunking her head in the icy cold water ten times clearly wasn’t enough. Obviously she needed a new strategy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wiping at her eyes for the umpteenth time, Miyuki then began folding up her nearby performance clothes, assembling the accessories into a neat little pile. Afterwards, she wrung out both her hair and clothes, before clipping on her boots. With trembling but slightly warmer fingers, Miyuki wrestled with the messy entanglement, also known as her hair, grabbing at the two bells and fastening them back into their original and rightful place as her hair ties. Yet, with the endless stream of tears flowing down her cheeks, clearly doing chores and cleaning up wasn’t doing the trick either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Just stop already!</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Miyuki silently commanded as she shook her head, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘If you don’t, I’ll head over to the Hidden Sand to dry myself out so bad you’ll never be able shed another tear again! Let’s see you try to cry again after that!</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Unfortunately, her threats didn’t work either. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gosh this is such a mess…</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Miyuki silently thought as she grabbed at her face, finally letting out a breath and stopping herself from trying out any other useless tactics. On top of this, she hadn’t even considered what to do about the performance troupe either. She had left Kina and the rest in such a terrible position due to her actions. Bursting into tears on stage and then running off wasn’t exactly a very professional thing to do. Everyone was probably laughing at her and the Crystal Lotus right now. Envisioning Tatsuya’s angry face, Miyuki knew the one thing awaiting her return was getting booted out of the village within a heartbeat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The massive migraine that decided to make its grand entrance now of all times, definitely wasn’t helping her case, only further eliciting the massive question of, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>What do I do now?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Miyuki folded in her arms as she closed her eyes, silently fighting off the massive headache and trying to come up with literally anything to get her mind off of everything. All that remained now were the sounds of water gently slapping against the rocks in the river and the rustling of branches and leaves from any small gusts of wind. Whenever she had wanted to get her mind off of something before, she would either crack open a book to read. Though it’s not like she had money for a book- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Miyuki’s eyes flew open as something clicked. Shifting in her position, Miyuki arched her back to glance at her weapons pouch sitting so invitingly just a few paces behind her. Before she knew it, Miyuki had subconsciously blurted out with widened eyes, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Icha-Icha Tactics.” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oh my gosh these chapters are so long I'm so sorry :( This and the chapter before this were only about 1600 words before in my first draft?? But I expanded on them a lot and now here we are and that's why it's taking so long to update them in the first place Ahhh</p><p>I am curious as to how any of you are finding the characters though! :) </p><p>Edited: Also just a quick FIY! I’ll be busy for the next three weeks ish or so! But I have work to catch up on so I'll be busy for a good portion of that time so I probably can't focus on these chapters :( as much as I like posting them and refining the story!</p><p>But anyway, hope you're having a great day and as always, thanks for dropping by!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 13: Icha-Icha Tactics Plus a Twist?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She couldn’t. This definitely wasn’t happening. There was no way she was invested in an entire novel based around the surprisingly smooth main character’s journey to get together with the woman of his dreams. But no matter how many times she told herself to just put the book down and take a look around at the nice clearing or think about her mission, she really couldn’t bring herself to do so. Technically this was a good thing. After all, she had so desperately wanted a distraction. But this was before she had literally buried her nose into Icha-Icha Tactics, struggling to make out the tiny inked words with her sore teary red eyes to the point of straining her neck and making herself even more near-sighted than before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>That’s funny, I was only on page 15 not too long ago,</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Miyuki thought to herself as she flipped the page, realizing now she was on page 257. As much as she wanted to deny it, the problem with her reading this was that she was much </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span> invested now. But, honestly speaking, who wouldn’t be? After all, how was it possible that the couple was already at second-base in chapter three?? If they had already gotten that far into their relationship by then, surely anyone would wonder just what would come next, right? Or at least, that was Miyuki’s thought process by page 125. Relatively speaking, the woman had definitely calmed down a great deal, now being extremely relaxed. The only question that remained on her mind was, who the heck was that home-wrecker Momo and what was going to happen next now that she had established herself as a very clear third-wheel? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Move out of the way, Momo, there’s no way you’re getting in on this action too,” Miyuki mumbled to herself as she pressed the open novel closer to her face. While a tranquil gust of wind blew by, gently twirling around her two bells and eliciting slight jingles out of them, Miyuki no longer took any notice, now harboring a state of mind she had originally carried around ever since her mother’s death. A state of mind where she simply ignored the fact that it had happened, banishing all thoughts of her mother entirely. Sure, it definitely wasn’t a healthy mindset to have, but her hands had been tied for...the last fourteen years. She deserved a break. She deserved to be able to read Icha-Icha. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so there she sat, perched on top of a sturdy tree branch, hugging her knees against her chest with her back up against the trunk. Having neatly put together her belongings earlier, she set them aside in a pile in front of her, occasionally glancing over at them to ensure they were safe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After contemplating forever down in the clearing and realizing that she still had the book in her possession, Miyuki immediately felt her face flush, having whipped her head around to ensure that no one was secretly watching her. A growing fear inside of her at that time was that people would spring out of the bushes, river, and trees, all to publicly humiliate her for what she was about to do. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except that she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to read this book at all. Thoughts had flooded into her mind, telling her there was no way she was going to read smut after having first broken out of that underground prison. She still hadn’t even gotten a chance to drink alcohol yet, which made sense since taking her first few steps into the ‘adult world’ wasn’t exactly Erai’s top priority, what with being his prisoner and all. But, she was definitely old enough now, since she was sure she turned the legal age long ago. So...why did it feel so wrong? Why was her heart beating so fast and why was blood rushing to her face? Was she really going to see what being an adult was going to be like? Now? While she was supposed to be focused on her mission and preparing her apology for the Crystal Lotus? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All questions were immediately quelled when Miyuki felt her head scream in pain. She didn’t have many options left. The woman had silently stood up, felt her face grow hot as she glanced over at her weapons pouch to where the book innocently sat in, having checked her surroundings again to again ensure no one was there. With a sigh, Miyuki knew that the indecent act she was about to pull definitely should not be done out in the open. She needed to plan this carefully and to read this in a spot where she would be less exposed to the public eye. With that, she had hurriedly gathered all of her belongings, leapt up into a nearby tree and was now on page 282, having suffered ten nosebleeds at </span>
  <em>
    <span>particular</span>
  </em>
  <span> scenes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This must be one of those famous ‘love triangles’ that I’ve heard so much about…” Miyuki mumbled to herself as she flipped the page, very deep in thought as she continued on with her reading. Despite her skepticism upon first opening the cover and reading the first few chapters, she could now pretty much say she was very invested in the relationships of these fictional characters. This for sure was something she wasn’t planning on admitting to the public, hence why she was sitting in the tree in the first place. Either way, Miyuki knew herself to be a changed woman, realizing that she was actually much too close-minded back then two hours ago. After all, it was as clear as day that Master Jiraiya had created art. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she silently sat up in the tree, the sounds of nature continued on all around her. With time, the loud rushing river behind her ran on, as aquatic life chimed in from time to time. With intermittent gusts of wind, the many tree branches and leaves in the rather dense forest would rustle accordingly. The cheers from the ongoing high energy festival were much too far away to be heard, thereby dividing the two worlds entirely, allowing for the woman to sit isolated and alone in the darkness, detached from the rest of Konoha. Or at least, that was what she thought. The man approaching the clearing proved otherwise. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He placed his hand on her-” Miyuki let out a louder than expected yelp as her face grew beet red, taking her nose out of the book after noticing the blood that was once again dripping down her face from her nose. Muttering to herself, she aggressively wiped at the blood, wincing in pain upon realizing that repeatedly doing that to the same spot on her face hurt a lot more than she thought it would. As she did so, the words she just read had burned into her mind, making it impossible to rid herself of the explicit imagery she had just come across. They were holding hands now? In public?? Miyuki shook her head as she grabbed at her burning cheeks, thinking to herself that this book was absolutely crazy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With her nervous fumbling around up in that tree, it wasn’t exactly hard for the approaching Sixth Hokage to place where she was. Upon reaching the base of it, Kakashi took a moment to study his surroundings, knowing he had the time to do so seeing as the woman somehow still hadn’t noticed him. At first glance, nothing was out of the ordinary. But as his gaze continued to wander around, the Hokage knew he was right to harbor suspicions towards her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fact that she had run away in the first place could be overlooked, but the jutsu she had performed was another story. On top of that, here she was sitting high up in a tree that was terribly hard for non-chakra utilizing civilians to scale up. Reflecting back on her escape upon their first encounter, where she had effortlessly leapt to the top of the two buildings in a matter of seconds, Kakashi knew he had every right to be doubtful of her. Of the many travelling performers present in Konoha today, ones of which he had carefully gone through before allowing entry into the village, he was certain none of them had planned to use chakra in their acts. Whoever this woman was, he knew of the potential consequences that could ensue if he were to leave her alone. Except...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>What the heck is she doing up there?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Kakashi thought as he cocked his head slightly to the side, raising an eyebrow as he watched her fidget about, feeling all the more confused when hearing even more squeals. Readjusting his position, the man squinted at her from a different angle in an attempt to make out what in the world she was up to, freezing upon realizing the shocking truth. In her hand sat a very familiar teal coloured book. Printed on it was the cover image he had committed to memory, along with the beloved red prohibition sign that separated his adored novel from all the other series he had deemed less worthy of his time. There was no way. She was reading </span>
  <em>
    <span>the</span>
  </em>
  <span> book. But...that wasn’t possible. After all, in the bookstore, she had said she didn’t like Master Jiraiya’s work. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>She was lying!</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Kakashi’s eyes widened as another wave of realization ran through him. Feeling his hands tremble slightly, the Hokage couldn’t contain his excitement as all of his unease drifted away in an instant. Seeing the cover of that book was more than enough for him, as he had impulsively darted up onto a branch just above the red-faced woman, beaming down at her with a smile and a wave, with a louder than expected greeting, “How’s the book coming along?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“NO!” Miyuki immediately shrieked back, violently whipping her head over to see who in the world was talking to her, jerking her body away from the familiar sounding voice in an attempt to get away. Her worst fear had come true. Someone had caught her reading Icha-Icha. This couldn’t have come at an even worse time. Not only was her nose bleeding, but she was just about to read the part where the main character was about to confront the third-wheel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the pair locked eyes, Kakashi silently blinked, being very unsure of how to react to her glorified scream, only taking notice now of the blood dripping down her nose. Miyuki, on the other hand, while only having caught a slight glimpse of the Sixth Hokage, was filled to the brim with terror, hearing her heartbeat within her ears for a completely different reason now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah-” Miyuki let out as her body began tilting backwards and away from the safety of her sturdy tree branch, realizing only a second later that she had basically shifted most of her weight off of the tree. The woman quickly turned her head back, redirecting her gaze behind her, trying to register the fact that she was falling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But none of that really mattered. As gravity overtook her, she couldn’t bring herself to do anything to break her fall. The blood rushing to her face and her quickened heartbeat weren’t directed towards the possible injuries she could gain from falling out of that tree, but rather, the menacing man she had so desperately tried to get away from. As her widened eyes stayed glued to the ground below, widened with terror, all that remained in her head were thoughts pertaining to why exactly the Sixth Hokage was </span>
  <em>
    <span>here</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fortunately, she wasn’t given a chance to entertain any possible physical injuries. Before she could consider much else, she felt a firm grip grab a hold of her arm, tightening around it as her body was then pulled back up and steadied onto her original spot on the tree. Slowly, but surely, Miyuki redirected her gaze back up towards somewhere, anywhere but right into the Sixth Hokage’s eyes again. Kakashi then leapt over onto the same branch where he had pulled her onto, scratching at his head as Miyuki rubbed at her arm where the Hokage had grabbed. This was, without a doubt, extremely awkward for both of them. Not only was she terrified of him, but she had also gotten into quite a number of embarrassing misunderstandings with him, to which the results of most of them had ended up with him begrudgingly helping her. Now here she was, having been caught red-handed with her nose still bleeding up in a dark tree away from a festival she had just run away from. Where exactly was she supposed to start in her explanation of what the heck happened? And as if she were answering her own question, she jumped, startling the Hokage in the process, realizing, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>R-Right, I probably need to thank him first!</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Th-thank you...Lord Sixth…” Miyuki breathed out, continuing to avoid all eye contact with him, apparently finding great interest in the bark right next to her as she wiped at her nose. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh uh, don’t worry about it,” Kakashi replied, half surprised she had thanked him after seeing the look of pure horror in her gaze. Though his reply fell on deaf ears, as she was now nodding to herself, proud for having responded correctly for once, before then sneaking a glance at her costume pile, ensuring once again it was all in one piece. While she looked upon it with disdain before, now she was all the more glad it was there to act as a very tall divider between them both. But even the costume pile couldn’t rid her of her main worry. The fact that Lord Hokage was here continued to nag at her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why</span>
  </em>
  <span> was he here? The fact that he had followed a lone performer out into the wilderness was more than enough to prove just how wary he was of her. She knew how dangerous the man was, but had to bump into him anyway. Miyuki had dug her own grave. Not only did she have to explain her jutsu and her attempts to run away from him, she also needed to take into account why she had shown up with the Crystal Lotus in the first place. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry for scaring you like that,” Kakashi finally spoke, breaking the silence with an apologetic laugh, trying his very best to lessen the tension between them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“N-No, need to apologize, Lord Sixth!” Miyuki stuttered back as she frantically waved her hands and shook her head, “What you did was very...normal and made me feel...very safe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahaha…” Kakashi replied with the same nervous laughter, scratching at the back of his head now as he realized he would rather be literally anywhere except here. A gust of wind blew by, rustling the branches and leaves surrounding the two as they silently sat on their spots, thinking to themselves, ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>This is so awkward…</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah right,” the Hokage straightened up his back upon remembering why he was here in the first place, “How is the book coming along?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh uh,” Miyuki’s face flushed as she glanced down at Icha-Icha Tactics, which was still in her hand, having forgotten she was still holding on it, “I-I wasn’t reading it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re more than halfway done,” Kakashi pointed down at her hand with an unamused expression, having noticed how her finger was holding her place in the book, “And your nose is bleeding.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Still?!” Miyuki cried out, before once again wiping the blood away from her nose, “I-I mean my nose always gets like that when I get really hot-” Coincidentally, at that very moment, she let out a sneeze, grabbing at her bare shoulders as she felt a shiver run down her spine. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh-huh,” Kakashi nodded along as he listened to her spout her lies. Throughout his life he had run into countless shinobi, all varying in degree in their ability to tell a fib. While he had definitely run into a number of people who were at least average in this skill, he had rarely ever encountered anyone </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> bad. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Besides,” the woman continued, clearly grasping at straws, “Like I said before, I wasn’t reading the book at all! I just so happened to open up to a page where that homewrecker Momo was about to be called out for all those shady things she did. Like that time when she tried to break into-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t say anymore!” Kakashi exploded, face red as he pointed out into the clearing, “You’re spoiling it for all the unfortunate people who haven’t been able to read it yet!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Miyuki blinked upon seeing his very drastic and sudden change in demeanor, before looking out in the direction he was pointing, straight into the clearing and then back at him. Hh wasn’t joking. And why would he be? He had a very serious allegation. Miyuki could tell. Even with the mask covering half his face, when considering it all, the weight of his words, the intensity in his eyes and the furrowing of his brow, she knew she was in the wrong here. With that, she gathered up her courage, straightened her back and directed her upper body to face out into the very empty clearing, then shouting a very long apology speech. The Hokage’s eyes widened, noting her courageous integrity and politeness. After she turned back to him, Kakashi folded his arms and gave her a nod of approval back, thinking to himself that her actions had not gone unnoticed. The two then shared another moment of silence, not being nearly as uncomfortable this time, before Miyuki finally burst out into laughter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman let her very tense shoulders fall as she eased her back onto the cool yet smooth tree trunk. While he had no idea what in the world she was laughing about, for once, Kakashi felt at ease around her, smiling as he listened to her giggles brighten up the dark setting around them. Of all the times they had run into each other, it was clear to both of them that this was probably going to be their favourite. After all, what exactly had happened during their previous run-ins? Kakashi’s name was more than enough to scare her to no end. At the bookstore, Miyuki had called him a stalker and kicked at his back in an attempt to get away from him when all he wanted to do was return her wallet. She also said that he wasn’t good-looking, even going so far as to lie to her friend and call him a dog, of which that last insult he didn’t know about at least. Yet all of this, the Hokage let roll off his back. The one thing that Miyuki did that he couldn’t stand, however, was apparently spoiling the plot of his favorite smut novel. And not even to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hence this was the reason why she was laughing, or so Miyuki explained. While Kakashi raised his eyebrow upon learning how he was labelled a dog, he simply let it roll off of his back again, as the woman had pretty much managed to describe his priorities perfectly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So I take it you did enjoy Master Jiraiya’s book then?” He finally inquired, feeling a sense of pride knowing that he had broken down her wall. Jumping at the fact that he was asking this question yet again, Miyuki let out a sigh thinking to herself that the least she could do around him now was be honest. Plus he was a fan. How bad could talking to another fan of the Icha-Icha be? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah...honestly, yes,” Miyuki nervously replied before glancing down at the book, “It’s actually really intense! I had no idea adults read stuff like this…” Hearing her approval was more than enough to make him very excited. Yes, he had occasionally discussed this book with Guy and a few other select close friends, but finding another fan was a joyous occasion nonetheless. For some reason there weren’t many people who would openly admit they were into the book series. He wondered why. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In that case, I’m sure you’d be happy to know there’s a movie adaptation coming out soon!” Kakashi proudly announced as he placed his hands on his hips, taking a moment to sneak a glance at Miyuki’s reaction. Just as he had hoped, she was extremely invested upon hearing this news, as her lips curled up into a smile, with her eyes widening as well, shining underneath the moonlight peeking out from between branches. However, within an instant, as if she had realized something important, her happiness shifted into a very downcast expression. It was only then that Kakashi had noticed just how dark it was around them. The giant overwhelmingly grey clouds high up in the sky had begun to shut out the moonlight, drenching everyone in complete darkness. Even though technically, nothing else had changed, the Hokage couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down his spine. Either way, he had clearly struck close to a nerve here, and definitely needed to investigate further what in the world was going on in this person’s life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is something wrong?” Kakashi asked without any hesitation, watching her carefully from the corner of his eye as to not miss anything from the woman sitting only a few feet away. No matter how slight even just a gasp was, it was important. A rather strong gust of wind blew between the two, as he continued to watch, taking note of the bells rustling in her hair, the very bells that he had taken notice upon during their meeting at the bookstore. The bells that made her stand out so much to him in the first place. Miyuki slowly closed her eyes upon hearing the question, before taking a deep breath. While it was slight, for a brief moment, her gaze was coldly piercing. However, with a blink of the eye, that look had completely disappeared, making Kakashi wonder if he had simply been seeing things. They were in a very dark place after all. But even in that dark place, Kakashi could swear her brown eyes somehow appeared blue… </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Miyuki then slowly lifted up her hand to scratch at the back of her neck with a bright smile on her face, all with a nervous laugh, “Well...the thing is, I’m broke! So there’s no way I can go see the movie adaptation as much as I would love to!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blinking, Kakashi silently nodded for a moment, clearly thrown off by her answer. Rather, it wasn’t the answer, but the nature of it. The way she responded. Despite her cheerful demeanor, there was something about her expression that seemed...unsettling. The Hokage honestly had no idea why, as maybe if they weren’t in the pitch dark, he wouldn’t even bat an eye at her expression. But here, something about it seemed...off. Luckily, Kakashi was able to ignore that matter for now, quickly gathering up his thoughts and casually replying back with a prying question of his own, “Aren’t you getting paid by the Crystal Lotus troupe?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah...actually no I’m not,” Miyuki shook her head as she gave a slight wave, “I’m only a temporary performer since their main blue lotus had a family emergency come up last minute. And...given how poorly my performance went, well...I think it’s safe to say I won’t be getting anything,” Miyuki grabbed at her arm as she glanced downwards with a sigh, still maintaining a small unnerving smile on her face. Contrary to how agonizing she appeared to be while performing that jutsu, by redirecting their topic, it seemed as if she </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted</span>
  </em>
  <span> to talk about it. Of course, hiding or avoiding the subject would be just as suspicious in this situation but-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think you did as badly as you think you did,” Kakashi reassured her with a smile of his own, “It was actually quite beautiful. While the ending of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>jutsu</span>
  </em>
  <span> was rather abrupt, it was still quite a sight to behold. What happened up there?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, you caught me!” The woman let out a laugh, as if to assure him that he was absolutely right in knowing it was a jutsu rather than some very elaborate party trick, “I...I learned that jutsu from my mother.” The moment she clearly choked out those last few words, she broke through her prior unnerving demeanor, eyes now clouded with sorrow. She cut herself off at the end without any further explanation. Only then did the Hokage let out a relatively silent sigh of relief, not even realizing he had been holding his breath. With this, he was able to think quite clearly as well. Based on this alone, the Hokage could already guess what had happened with her mother, thinking back to the woman’s performance and concluding that it would make sense why she had reacted like that onstage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What exactly does your jutsu do?” Kakashi continued on with their conversation, deciding not to address her mother any further, all while reflecting back on the properties of the water-style jutsu he had seen. Even during the performance, he could honestly say he wasn’t completely on guard while watching the water dance about in the sky. It seemed harmless enough. Yes, while the woman had quite a hefty amount of water up there, and while yes, that could easily be turned into a weapon against the crowd below, the man hadn’t senseed any malicious intent from the dancer at all. While it appeared as good as harmless, watching it still stumped him though. He had seen so many ninjutsu in his lifetime, but nothing as neutral as that. It didn’t seem to bring any harm or any benefits to anyone. A few children had poked at it within the crowd, receiving quite the delight from such an experience, but other than that, what exactly did it do? The jutsu just...moved water around. Was that really all there was to it? As he continued to think to himself, Miyuki, in turn raised an eyebrow, as if confused why he was continuing to ask about her act, now feigning innocence. Luckily though, her previous unsettling smile hadn’t returned, prompting the Hokage to let down his guard, at least a little bit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well...not much, really. My mother loved to dance and practiced a lot of medical ninjutsu so she just fused them together into a jutsu. What happens is that I infuse chakra into those little droplets of water that then can heal any minor injuries in a person and give them a little spring in their step! Like...you know, some energy!” Miyuki explained before pointing back at the river behind her, “I can demonstrate it now if you would like?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Hokage didn’t see any problem with it, being more inclined to take her up on her offer since she wasn’t giving off that smile. If he were to really figure out whether any of her words held any weight, the fastest way would simply be to become a “victim” to her water jutsu. Besides, he had received a paper cut this morning while sorting a stack of papers in his messy workplace. Best case scenario, that would be healed. While he wouldn’t call himself an optimist per say, he had reason to believe that he wouldn’t come out of this regretting his decision. Taking a quick glance downward at his finger, Kakashi looked back up at the waiting woman with a shrug and nodded, “Sure, I would love to see it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he watched her perform the same sequence of hand signs he had spotted from her out on stage, the man silently shifted his weight back and away from her, quickly preparing the replacement jutsu. While he didn’t think she would attack him here, that didn’t mean he trusted her completely. He was more of a realist than an optimist after all. He had to consider all possible situations. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pair watched as a few droplets of water slowly pulled up and out of the far away river before migrating over to where they sat. Miyuki’s hands glided through the air as if she were conducting a beautiful melody, making the water dance around a bit before gently dropping it over onto Kakashi’s paper cut, to which he was surprised she had noticed in the first place. And, just as he had expected, the man watched how a glowing speck of water immediately dissipated upon contact with his injury, healing it within an instant, as well as doing exactly what the woman had instructed it would do, give him a burst of energy. She was absolutely right. The jutsu was harmless. There was no way she could hurt anyone with that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See?” Miyuki beamed at him, as if to try to convince him that he was wrong to doubt her intentions. However, it did the opposite, as Kakashi was even more on guard after watching the corners of her lips curve upwards. As ironic as it was, while she was cheerfully beaming up at him, it somehow felt as if her whole facial expression had somehow darkened. He was almost glad that her eyes were closed, as he knew that if they were open, he would have to make eye contact with her cold, empty look. It almost felt as if he were talking to two different people. One being the nervous and fidgety yet seemingly genuine woman who clearly enjoyed the same novel as him, and the other…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi slowly glanced down at his finger in an attempt to ignore his discomfort and to gather his thoughts in order to further continue their conversation. After all, just because she wasn’t lying about the jutsu, didn't mean she wasn’t lying altogether. He still had his doubts. He knew he was still missing a lot of the story. But how exactly would he address that? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, being the blunt man that he was, he decided to simply bite the bullet and attack the issue head-on. He found that whenever he did things that way, it would get him answers a lot quicker. Whether it was through being attacked back in retaliation or through listening to a poorly constructed lie. While shifting his position on the tree branch, Kakashi turned to Miyuki directly, surprising her with his sudden change in stance. As he stared her down, looking directly into her eyes, he finally inquired, “Well then, why is a </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shinobi</span>
  </em>
  <span> like you out here performing with the Crystal Lotus in the first place?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For once, Miyuki didn’t reply back instantly. As her eyes widened, the woman pursed her lips, breaking off their eye contact by tilting her head down to shade her eyes with her bangs. Her hands stopped fiddling with the book as she slowly set it down onto the costume pile in front of her, not muttering a single word. The Hokage couldn’t read her face at all. What in the world was she thinking? Was she going to snap and yell at him for prying too much? Or was she going to slap on another smile? Kakashi honestly preferred the former of those two options. Either way, he had finally sprung onto her the main question plaguing his mind, to which she needed to come up with a good answer to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The silence was overbearing. None of the two moved in their spots. Miyuki still had her back pressed up against the tree, not having moved or shifted around much ever since Kakashi had begun his little interrogation. The Hokage held his breath as he patiently waited, feeling the unease within him progressively grow. The sounds of frogs croaking and grasshoppers chirping should have provided him with comfort in knowing he wasn’t completely </span>
  <em>
    <span>alone</span>
  </em>
  <span> out there, but honestly speaking, he had forgotten they were there. All he could really clearly focus on was the woman sat just a few paces away from him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, as if he had heard something click, Kakashi flinched upon seeing the woman slowly lift her head to face him again, wearing a tiny grin on her face. While her eyes were closed, the moonlight began to resurface from underneath the large grey clump of clouds, now shrouding the two in a light the Hokage didn’t know he missed. The woman then slowly held up her hands as if she were surrendering herself, letting out a nervous laugh, “As expected of you, Lord Sixth.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi blinked upon hearing her words, slightly confused at what she was getting at, but feeling the building unease continue to amplify within him, now hearing his rather loud heartbeat in his ears. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand that as the Hokage you have to be wary of anyone who uses chakra entering into the village who isn’t a registered Konoha Shinobi, especially considering how the Fourth Great Shinobi War had just ended and the number of civilians present here now. You have every right to be cautious around me,” Miyuki explained, all while maintaining the closed-eye smile, “But I’m sure with your experience you’ve run into a few chakra using citizens who weren’t Shinobi, am I right? Or even if they did learn anything, it was more for self-defense than anything else. I’m not sure how reassuring this can be for you but, my intentions in the village are the opposite of bringing anyone any harm.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her words indeed held some truth to them. While extremely rare, Kakashi had run into individuals who didn’t identify with any Shinobi village. However, they were mainly retired elders who simply wanted to live a quiet life, or exiled shinobi who were banished from their home village. Of course, given how everyone’s lives had experienced a great deal of change these past few months, it wasn’t completely crazy to run into a water-style jutsu user who simply wanted to perform. She hadn’t done anything dangerous to the Konoha civilians as of yet, so perhaps he was being too cautious by involving himself with her this much. While he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, there seemed to be a lot to her, more than she was letting on. But was it really his job to dive into it, especially when it wasn’t going to bring any repercussions onto the villagers and Shinobi of Konoha? Definitely not. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I really am just here to dance. Kina is a very close childhood friend of mine and our farms happen to be quite close to one another. I knew she joined a performance troupe a while back but they were full by the time I got to the Crystal Lotus. And...she’s my best friend, so of course I wanted to help her and the troupe out!” All throughout her speech she had maintained the same facial expression as she lied through her teeth. When she finished, Kakashi simply let out a sigh as he scratched at the back of his head, staring out into the clearing as if to signify he had nothing more to say. Well, it wasn’t that he had nothing more to say, it was moreso, he didn’t think there was any point to saying anything else. It was clear he wasn’t going to be satisfied with anything that came out of her mouth, and the situation at hand was progressively getting more horrific as they went on. His gut-feeling was telling him to leave. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And his hunch was right. After taking one last peek over at her, Kakashi froze. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had opened her eyes. Though this time, it wasn’t just the smile that seemed off. It was her eyes too. They seemed...so hollow. Empty. Soulless. Yet she still maintained that same wide smirk on her face, as her unwavering gaze remained plastered onto the Hokage. As she slowly extended out her left hand as if to ask for a hand shake, startling Kakashi greatly, Miyuki finally ended their conversation, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I apologize for not having formerly introduced myself yet despite the many times we ran into each other. I’m Tamaki.” As she then redirected her gaze to look directly into his eyes, Miyuki let out a slight giggle, “It’s been nice talking with you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi was certain of one thing. While he had many questions concerning the unknown woman before, none of them seemed as important as compared to the one clouding his judgement now:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Who was he talking to? </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for taking such a long hiatus! Was going through a lot and honestly was feeling depressed because I thought this story sucked haha. Even now I still kinda think that-<br/>Anyway, while it was hard, I definitely tried my best with writing this latest chapter! It turns out really different from my first draft which is kind of cool I think! Either way I keep noticing how the latest chapters have been super long. This chapter is no different oops-<br/>It just keeps getting longer-</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi everyone! This is my first time posting a fanfic with an original character! I spent a lot of time trying to come up with this idea and wanted to give posting a try! I would love to see what you guys think! Thanks for checking it out, even if you only read through one chapter! It means a lot :) I hope you have a nice day!</p>
<p>Little Update: I started a little page to post pictures of my art for these chapters and of my OC! Check out the link below!<br/>Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/tsukishiromiyu/</p></blockquote></div></div>
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